Humble Beginnings
by The Passionate Admiral
Summary: Episode 1 of my Star Trek: Champion series. A new crew comes together through fate. Working together, they just might end up becoming part of the legend shared by Archer, Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and their crews. DONE!
1. Reflection

Humble Beginnings

Author: The Passionate Admiral

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Star Trek Universe, but I do own a great many things that will be put in this story. I will say which things I own at the beginning of each chapter that they are introduced in. I own all the characters mentioned in this chapter, as well as the Federation starship USS _Gainesville_.

Note: This story is my first attempt at making my own Star Trek fanfiction mini-series. If it is successful enough, it may even make a fulltime fanfiction series. It takes place in the Prime Universe (Not the alternate one from the new _Star Trek _movie where Vulcan has been destroyed. This takes place after Romulus was destroyed in the Prime Universe). I know that this first chapter seems somewhat dark, but it won't get this dark again after this chapter.

Ashley Sanderson was lying on her bed in her holding cell at the penal colony near Starfleet Headquarters. She was trying to get some sleep. But she found that for the past nineteen weeks she just could not sleep. She could not tell why, but she did know that there could only be reasons. Either her brain would not let her sleep… or it didn't want her to.

She concluded that it was most likely the latter. She then realized that the nightmares had been returning to her with more frequency than ever before. Granted she never exactly had "sweet dreams" ever since she was put in the cell, even if the guards had sarcastically wished them to her when she was preparing to go to sleep. All the same, the nightmares she was suffering from at this point were troubling her the most.

Finally, Sanderson was able to go to sleep.

But she still dreamed the same nightmare, only in a worse environment than ever before. She was back on the bridge of the _Gainesville_. The bridge was on fire; debris was everywhere. She was one of the few members of the bridge crew that was still alive. Being the highest ranking officer available, she naturally took command of the bridge. An alarm sounded from the tactical station. "What's triggering the alarm?" Sanderson asked the person at the station.

He meekly replied "There are two alien vessels approaching on an intercept course!"

"Their configuration?" asked Sanderson.

He examined the given data, and then replied "One is Cardassian, and the other is Breen."

"Shields!" shouted Sanderson.

"They're barely holding at twenty-four percent!" he notified her.

"What about our weapons?" she inquired.

"Phasers are offline!" he said. "We only have five photon torpedoes left!"

Another person from the ops station announced "They're within visual range!"

"Onscreen!" shouted Sanderson. The viewscreen came up and they saw the two vessels approaching. But the _Gainesville _was not in any condition to confront even one of them.

"Target the Breen ship first!" Sanderson ordered the person at ops.

"Target locked." he notified her.

"Fire!"

The _Gainesville _fired one photon torpedo at the Breen engine room. But it just bounced off the ship's deflectors. Both ships came about and locked their weapons on the _Gainesville_.

"They're about to fire their weapons!" yelled the person at ops.

Sanderson shouted over the com system "All hands, brace for impact!"

When the _Gainesville _was hit, the ops station erupted in an electrical outburst. The person there was killed by the blast and dropped to the ground.

Sanderson looked at him, and then back at the viewscreen. She then shouted "Lock all four torpedoes on the Breen ship!"

"Armed and ready!" he announced.

"Fire!"

All the torpedoes went flying through space. They hit the Breen ship in several key locations. A few moments after impact, the Breen ship blew up from the inside.

"Breen ship destroyed!" said the tactical officer with a note of satisfaction in his voice.

Just then, the Cardassian ship fired back out of nowhere. When its weapons hit the _Gainesville_, the tactical station exploded, killing the man posted there. The force of the explosion threw Sanderson off her feet. She landed on her stomach on the ground and just lay there. Then she looked up and around the bridge. She was the only person there that was still alive. Finally, she looked back at the viewscreen. The Cardassian ship was getting closer. Then it fired weapons again. The _Gainesville_ had finally sustained its maximum tolerance of damage. All around Sanderson, the ship was exploding. She shouted as the explosions were about to engulf her body…

Then she woke up. She sat up and started breathing heavily. When she had caught her breath, she noticed that somebody was standing inside the cell with her. She also noticed that the forcefield was down. Looking up at her visitor, she recognized him as Warden Cline.

He was holding a PADD in his hand. He handed it to her and said "Ashley Sanderson, your ten-month sentence is over. When you have cleaned yourself up and donned some fresh attire, please meet with me and Captain Ewotto at the time and place specified on that PADD."

She looked at the PADD and skimmed through it. She was a bit confused over a few of the details listed there, and said to Cline "Sir, the last paragraph here…?"

"All that will be clarified in time." he assured her. "Right now, please get cleaned up, and then we will discuss the content of the PADD."

Not wanting to debate in her current condition with the warden, Sanderson nodded and stood up. She followed him out of the holding cell. The person who had been standing guard at the terminal gave her a bag which contained a uniform for her to change into later. Then Sanderson walked down the corridors by herself to the washroom to wash herself up.

The washroom was empty at that moment. She was glad; she wanted some time to be alone, even though she had had no contact with anyone outside the detention center for close to a year.

Sanderson placed the PADD and the bag down on a counter. Then she slowly began to undress, placing her clothing next to the PADD and the bag. After she had removed her clothing, she stepped into a shower stall and she activated the water.

She took time to enjoy herself as the hot, clear liquid began cleansing her body. She closed her eyes to savior the fact that this would be the last time she would be using the showers in that building. While she showered, she took some time to reflect on the past ten months. Those months had been designated as time for her to "think about the possible consequences of her actions." She had spent plenty of time sitting in that cell thinking about what could have happened, but underneath all that pondering, she still had no regrets about what she did.

Well, what do you think so far? Please review at least one of the chapters as you read.


	2. Ten Years And One Crew Later

Disclaimer: I own Captain Michael Larson, Patrick Wood, and Lieutenants Seth Marquez and Nicholas Casey. All the other characters mentioned by name do not belong to me. I also own the Federation starships USS _Champion_, the USS _Bradford_, the USS _Pennington_, and the USS _Avignon_, and the Shuttlecraft _Volvo_.

Ten Years Later…

(The year is now 2408. The setting is Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, Earth.)

Captain Michael Larson was walking through the corridors in Starfleet Headquarters. He was looking around for one room in particular, but the directory was not providing much use to it.

_How typical _he thought. _Leave Starfleet Headquarters for about a decade and they change the entire layout._ Finally, he pulled one man aside and asked him "Could you please tell me where I might find Fleet Admiral Paris' office, ensign?"

"Of course, sir." said the young officer. "Follow me."

The ensign led the Captain upstairs and down a few more hallways. Finally, they reached the room the latter had been searching for.

"Thank you very much, ensign." Larson thanked the young man.

"It's my pleasure, sir." the ensign grinned as he walked back to wherever had been his original destination. Captain Larson then focused his attention on the door in front of him. He made sure his shirt was tucked in and he was all straightened out. Then he rang the bell on the door.

"Come in!" said a voice from the other side.

The door slid open and Captain Larson walked into the room. The man he was expecting to see was at his desk, but his chair was turned to the large windows. While looking out the windows, he said in a stern voice without turning around "You're five minutes late."

"I'm sorry." said Larson. "I got lost. I thought your office was on the first floor."

"It was moved up, remember?" said the Admiral.

"Well, I'm glad I know now." said Larson, grinning. "I'll remember its location for the next time when I need to meet with you."

"Just keep one thing in mind." said Admiral Paris.

"What would that be?" inquired Larson.

Finally, the chair was revolved around 180 degrees. There was Fleet Admiral Paris in uniform.

"Commanding a starship- and life in general- is like a game." he elucidated him. "You should always take your part seriously, but always remember: you are out to enjoy yourself, and to have fun!"

Larson chuckled and said "I'll keep that in mind, sir."

Paris stood up, walked around his desk, approached Larson, and gave him a friendly hug while giving an amused laugh. Larson joined him in the laugh and the hug. When they came apart, Paris asked him "How are you doing, Mike?"

"Oh, I'm doing just fine." replied the Captain. "How about you, Tom?"

(That's right! This Admiral Paris isn't Owen; he's Tom!)

"Oh, I'm doing good." he told him. "B'Elanna and I just finished moving into our new apartment."

"Ah, yes." Larson recollected. "I would conclude that with all three of your children out of the house and the youngest at Starfleet Academy, you and your wife would have no need for such a large house anymore. But you and B'Elanna have been living alone for almost three years now. One would think you two would have gotten a new house sooner."

"Yeah, but all the same, it was hard to part ways with it." said Tom. "It was hard enough having to part with all three of our children when they off to Starfleet Academy. But we figured: if we could part ways with _Voyager_, we could part ways with anywhere else just the same way."

Mike saw the point that Tom was making. Before either of them could make another query about the other's personal life, Mike asked him "Should we get down to business?"

"Ah!" said Tom. "Of course. Come, sit down."

Captain Larson sat down at the chair in front of Tom's desk. The Admiral went over to a replicator and ordered a light syntheholic beverage from it. Turning back to his colleague, he asked "Can I get you one?"

Mike humorously rolled his eyes and said "You know I don't drink."

Tom shrugged and said "You never know. Changes happen."

Gesturing to the rank insignia on Tom's collar, Mike said "I would have to concur with you on that."

Tom sat back down at his desk and put his drink to the side. He said "So, **Captain **Mike Larson. When I was your age, I was still a Lieutenant Commander."

Mike shrugged and said "We all get our promotions at different intervals."

"I know." said Tom. "But still, 'Captain' certainly has an impressive tone to it. I can still recall when you were **Ensign **Larson."

"So do I, Tom." said Mike. "I remember back when I was your Operations Officer aboard the _Bradford_. You were always commenting on how 'clean' my reports were, how I was very 'graceful' in my work, and how you claimed I was unique from the rest of the crew and be hugely successful in my own Starfleet career. My, how your jokes amused me so."

At that, the smile dropped from Paris' face. He said to Larson in a stunned voice "You thought I was joking whenever I said those things?"

"Well, not all the time." Mike admitted. "But the manner in which you delivered a few of them was a bit… extravagant."

Tom sat up in his desk and looked Mike straight in the eyes. He told him "Mike, while I may have a reputation of being one of the more social and eccentric Starfleet officers, I was never joking when I complimented your work. I was always serious when I told you that you were destined for greatness. And quite frankly, I believe you still are."

"Really?" said Larson, touched by the Admiral's kind words.

"Well, I didn't promote you to lieutenant after just eight weeks because I was bored!" Paris replied lightheartedly.

"Why, thank you." said Mike. "Though I must admit, returning to the subject of the _Champion_, I've never seen a crew of a starship put together so quickly in my life. I've barely had time to read half of the crew's profiles."

"Well, it was somewhat short-notice." Tom explained to him. "You see, the workers at Utopia Planitia finished construction of the _Champion_ long before their deadline. When they reported they had assembled the ship sooner than expected, Starfleet Command was eager to get the ship out in the fields as soon as possible. So they searched out who they believed to be some of the most superb officers in Starfleet and put them all together."

"It still would've been helpful if they had given me more time to get to know more about my crew before I had to work with it." said Larson.

Paris picked up his drink and said "Just look at it this way: getting to know your crew is part of the assignment. Hence, it's part of the fun."

Mike smiled and said "I can only imagine how much 'fun' Admiral Janeway had getting to know the Maquis during your trek through the Delta Quadrant."

"It didn't take that long, actually." said Tom. "She generated an atmosphere of comfort and trust that everybody felt content with. I'm sure that you'll manage to do just the same thing."

Wanting to address the subject at hand, Mike recommended "Shall we discuss the new assignment itself?"

"Of course." said Paris. He pressed a button on his desk and said "Send in Seth."

"Right away, Admiral." said a voice from the other side.

The doors to Tom's office opened and a man in his early thirties entered the room. He was holding onto a large leather bag. It had a long strap which was wrapped around his right shoulder. He approached the desk and said to Tom "Reporting for duty, sir."

Tom nodded and said to Larson "Mike, this is Lieutenant Seth Marquez, one of the men who headed the construction of the _Champion_. Seth, I'd like you to meet Captain Michael Larson."

Marquez smiled and held his hand out to Larson. Mike took his hand and shook it firmly.

When their handshake was finished, Paris continued with "Seth here will be going over all the basic and complex items pertaining to the functions of the _Champion_. He'll only be giving you a brief summary, as a brief summary is all you will need, but remember to take good clean notes."

"I'll keep that in mind." said Mike.

Admiral Paris slightly dimmed the lights in his office as Lieutenant Marquez prepped a large monitor in the room to show a diagram of the interior and exterior of the USS _Champion_. While he did this, he explained to Larson "Now, the USS _Champion _is the archetype of its class. It has 56 decks, top speed just slightly under that of the Warp 10 Threshold, mass of 6,250,000 metric tons, crew ranging from 123 to 1596, and it runs on bio-neural gel packs the way we run on our brains."

Marquez pressed a few buttons on his PADD and the monitor brought up a list of the _Champion_'s smaller vehicles, armaments, and weapons. Then he went on with "It is currently stocked with 64 shuttles, 375 photon torpedoes, 80 quantum torpedoes, and 23 phaser arrays. It also contains an advanced Yellowstone-class runabout in the main hanger."

Then Marquez briefed Larson over all of the ship's basic functions, even though the Captain himself had already gone through the list of them after receiving the assignment.

When the overview was complete, Tom stood up and said "Well, if there is nothing further, gentlemen, we're off to the Utopia Planitia Shipyards."

"Then let's get going." Marquez suggested.

Paris stood up and he walked around his desk. He took his beverage and returned it to the replicator, even though he hadn't had even one sip of it. As he walked back over to the other two men, he said "We'll take the transporter room to the hanger a few miles away. Two members of the _Champion_'s crew are waiting for us there at my private shuttle."

"One more thing, Admiral." said Larson as he rose to his feet. "I was told that a transport vessel will be delivering all non-Starfleet family members to the _Champion _within the next few hours. May I know which vessel this would be and what time it will be departing?"

"It is… the _Pennington_." Paris answered him. "It will be leaving Earth at 1500 hours. So don't worry, Mike. You'll see your wife soon enough."

Mike smiled and said "Thanks. She and the twins have been looking forward to this for such a long time."

"I can imagine." said Tom. "It's all Miral can talk about whenever she comes home for dinner."

"Oh, that's another subject I wanted to address." said Mike. "Your daughter will be on board as my Tactical Officer, and as an emissary on some events. I just want you to know that you should expect nothing but optimism and benevolence in the communiqués she sends you and her mother."

"I'm sure she'll have nothing to talk about other than how much fun she's having." Tom agreed.

"I'm sure you'll be having a lot of fun, too." Paris assured him. "We've put together a very efficient crew. For example, your Second Officer- Patrick Wood- he's brilliant. He graduated from the Academy after just his second year."

"I know. His profile was one of the few I was able to get a good look at." said Larson. "Based upon it, he is very serious about his work, but has a decent sense of humor. You can tell me all about him while we're on the shuttle. But let's get to the shuttle first."

"An excellent plan, sir." said Marquez.

The three men walked to a transporter room in Starfleet Headquarters and had the person there beam them to the hanger bay located a few miles away. They arrived just a few meters from their shuttle. Inside, there were two people. Both of them wore the pips of lieutenant junior grade on their collars. One of them was a burly but pleasant-looking man with tall flat hair. The other one was a few years older, had small forehead ridges and was easily identified by Captain Larson and Tom Paris as the latter's daughter Miral Paris.

Upon seeing their visitors, the younger of the two stood up straight and said "Admiral and Captain in the shuttle!"

Miral quickly stood up straight with him, but gradually eased down when she saw who the Admiral was.

"Thank you for that, lieutenant." Tom said to the younger officer. "Now just do it with a little less frequency."

"Yes sir." said the lieutenant quickly.

Paris turned to Larson and told him "I know you already know who Miral is. But this is Lieutenant Nicholas Casey, the Chief Conn Officer of the _Champion_."

Larson shook hands with Casey. "You must be Captain Larson."

"That's correct, Lieutenant." said Mike. Paris patted him on the back and said to Casey "Mike here was **my **Operations Officer aboard the USS _Bradford_ for three years."

Casey gave a light chuckle and said "Well, sir, I myself considered signing up at tactical when I was given a field commission. But I have always felt content being stationed on the bridge at the helm."

"Whatever makes you happy, Lieutenant." said Larson. "You are the Chief Conn Officer, after all."

"Should we get going?" asked Miral.

"That would be a good idea about now." said Admiral Paris. He turned to Nicholas and asked him "Would you do us the honors, Mr. Casey?"

Casey actually looked a bit eager, as if he had something else in mind. He nervously looked at Tom and told him "Admiral, I have a request."

"Name it, Lieutenant." said Tom.

Casey began tapping his fingers together, and then he said "Would you… would you… care to… take us out of the bay?"

Paris smiled and said "Forgotten where the launch control is already, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir." said Casey. "It's just that… Miral has told me a lot about your piloting skills, and they are some of the most well-renowned skills in all of Starfleet. I was just wondering if you could let me see some of that first-class piloting for myself."

"Please, Dad?" said Miral.

"Oh, alright." Tom agreed willingly. "But I should warn you, it's been a few years since I've piloted something."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Dad." said Miral. "Just do what you did back when you served on the _Avignon_."

"That was twenty-five years ago, Miral!" said Tom as he took his seat at the pilot's chair. "But no matter. Time does nothing to talents people are born with."

Miral sat next to her father at the co-pilot chair. Casey, Larson, and Marquez sat behind them in the three back seats. Tom went to work on initializing the takeoff procedures. He announced "Engines are online. Thrusters ready to go."

Miral looked over the panel in front of her and said "We're ready to go. All key systems are up and running."

Tom nodded and said "Open a channel to the take-off coordinator."

She pressed a few buttons and said "Channel open."

Tom said "This is Admiral Paris aboard the Shuttlecraft _Volvo_ requesting permission to depart."

"_Volvo_?" Marquez whispered to Larson.

"It's an old type of car from the twenty-first century on Earth." Mike explained. "Studying early Earth land vehicles has always been a favorite of Tom's."

"I see." Marquez commented.

Tom got his response from the take-off coordinator, who said "This is launch control to the _Volvo_. Admiral, you are clear to proceed."

Tom focused on the helm. He gracefully took control of the ship's motor functions and pulled her up in the air. Then he said "Hang on. This could be a bumpy ride."

Tom flew the _Volvo_ out of the hanger and out into the sunlight. He then flew close by the Golden Gate Bridge, allowing the others to take time to admire its beauty. Finally, he had the ship fly upwards towards the sky and soon made it out of the atmosphere. After they exited Earth's orbit, he said into the comline "Admiral Paris to launch control. We have broken orbit and are proceeding on course to the Utopia Planitia Shipyards."

After a few moments, the response was "Have a nice day, Admiral."

"You too." said Paris to the launch control. He turned to Nicholas and offered him "Mr. Casey, perhaps you would care to take over now?"

"Oh, yes sir, thank you." Casey switched places with Tom and manned the helm. He proclaimed "We're on a course to Mars now, and we should be arriving within two hours."

"Nothing to do but wait now." Tom commented to the others. They all just sat in silence for about a half-hour while Casey piloted the ship and Miral monitored the ship's main systems.


	3. First Sight

Disclaimer: I own all the people I said I own before, as well Lieutenant Tymar Halrinso, Dr. Rizux, Ensign Nobema, Dr. Keller, Bush, and Pearson. I also own the Crenarans. All the other characters mentioned by name do not belong to me. While Miral Paris is the creation of the makers of Voyager, her future self in this story is also my idea.

After this half-hour, Captain Larson decided to break the silence. He turned to Tom and said

"So, tell me about this 'Patrick Wood' person you mentioned earlier." said Larson.

"Oh, where to begin?" said Paris. "The guy is a genius."

"I could assume that." Larson told him. "His records at Starfleet indicate his IQ is close to 560 points. And yet he is not genetically engineered."

"That's one thing we can rule out as the reason for his extraordinary intelligence." said Tom. "At the end of his second year, he made his appearance in front of the Federation Council, and he gave them a report on the theories of the warp field and similar items. He enlightened them on a few variables and other things their prior knowledge had been oblivious to. He impressed them so much with his insight and how he had already learned all the Academy material required for all four years that they decided to let him graduate that year. He also won against a Vulcan, an Android, a Hologram, and a genetically-engineered person in six games of chess."

"I myself have never lost a game of chess." said Captain Larson. "I guess I shouldn't play Mr. Wood if I don't want my record to be ruined."

"Klingons would consider that to be a cowardly tactic, sir." Miral told her commanding officer.

"It is merely a precaution, Lieutenant." said Larson. "Say, speaking of Klingons, am I to understand that there will be at least two dozen on board this ship?"

"29 as of right now, sir." said Casey from the cockpit. "We have more than any other Federation starship."

"I wonder why that is." said Marquez.

"Miral and I know the reason." Admiral Paris told the flight controller, the engineer, and the captain. Then he went into the story of how Miral had been conceived during _Voyager_'s last year in the Delta Quadrant, and their subsequent run-in with that Klingon battle cruiser. Miral's father had told her this story many times since the days when he and B'Elanna had tucked her in bed at night. At any rate, Tom told the other three about how the Klingons had believed that Miral was the Kuvah'magh, the Klingon savior who would restore order to the Klingon Empire. Upon returning home to the Alpha Quadrant, Admiral Janeway felt it necessary to address this belief to the Klingon High Command. Some of the Council had disregarded that prophecy altogether, but many of them, including Chancellor Martok, had taken time to ponder on the authenticity of the prophecy. In the end, almost half the Council believed that Miral was the Kuvah'magh after they had examined all the evidence. When they released this news to the public, many more Klingons started to believe in the prophecy. In the end, when Miral applied to Starfleet Academy, hundreds of Klingons followed her lead and did the same. As a result, almost all of them graduated successfully. Conveniently, the starship that had the most Klingons always seemed to be the one that Miral was on. But she actually appreciated the respect she had gained from her people.

"This is going to be one riveting command." said Larson. The silence resumed after he said that last statement.

Just before they arrived, Tom remembered something he had meant to address to Mike earlier. He took out a PADD and handed it to him, saying "I just recalled something, Mike. Most of the senior staff has been selected, but you're still in need of a First Officer, a Chief Engineer, and a Linguistics Expert/Communications Officer."

Captain Larson looked through the information written down on the PADD. Then he said "I think I may know where to find a decent communications officer."

Finally, fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards. The USS _Champion _was in the center of all the vessels. It was the largest one there.

"If you want, come see the ship for yourself, Captain." Casey told Mike.

Larson stood up and stepped up to the huge window at the front of the cockpit. He was awed by what he saw. The _Champion _was larger than any ship he had ever seen. The circular saucer section was almost half a mile in diameter. Below it was the huge engineering section. There were three warp nacelles on the engineering section, and another two were on the saucer section; one on the right side and one on the left.

"Miral, let them know we're coming aboard." Admiral Paris ordered his daughter.

She nodded and opened the comline. She said "This is Admiral Paris' shuttle the _Volvo _to the USS _Champion _transporting Captain Larson. Request permission to dock."

Almost immediately, there was a voice that responded with "Permission granted. Please proceed to the main hanger on Deck 5."

The comline was closed and Larson said to the flight controller "Mr. Casey, bring us in."

"Bringing us in, sir." Casey reported as he made the necessary course adjustments.

The shuttle flew steadily towards the hanger bay. Lieutenant Casey carefully maneuvered the small ship and entered the hanger through the forcefield on the entrance. This type of forcefield allowed electrical objects and whatever was inside them to pass through it, but it was always held in place to keep the pressure in the hanger even.

Finally, the shuttle set down and docked in the main bay. After shutting down power to the shuttle, Miral said "We're here at last."

Larson was very excited at that moment. He was finally in the USS _Champion _herself, and she was his ship. _His _ship with a crew of his own to command!

The five passengers departed from the shuttle and headed to the doors leading to the interior of the _Champion_. Standing in the doorway was a Bolian officer. He had his hands connected together behind his back. When the group of five approached the door, he gave a light bow and said "Welcome aboard the USS _Champion_, Captain Larson."

Larson nodded at him and said "Thank you for that greeting, Lieutenant. You must be in the security branch of the ship."

"He is." Paris told him. "Captain Larson, this is Lieutenant Tymar Halrinso, the _Champion_'s Security Chief and Third Officer."

Mike shook hands with the Bolian officer. He then said "I would take a shrewd guess that you will be accompanying me and the Admiral on my preliminary inspection of the ship."

"If it is no hindrance to you, sir," said Halrinso, "I would prefer to join you."

Larson shrugged and said "Be my guest." He turned to the people standing with him and said "Mr. Casey, Miss Paris, report to the bridge and take your stations."

They nodded and left the room. Miral whispered to her father "See you on the bridge" as she walked past him.

"I am glad you approve of my accompanying you, sir." said Halrinso. Then he added in "Because I am the one who is conducting the order of the rooms in your inspection."

"Well, why did you not say that in the first place?" asked Larson.

"Based on what Admiral Paris told me," Halrinso explained, "you like to be surprised in the most unusual ways."

Glaring over at Tom, Mike said to Halrinso "Lieutenant, if there's one thing you need to know while you are on this ship, it's that you should sometimes question what Admiral Paris tells you about your crewmembers' personal lives."

Tom just snickered at Mike's comment. Mike turned back to Halrinso and told him "I know that your people have a way of surprising people when they least expect it, but I would never expect them to joke like that."

"Captain, you may not know a lot about me," said Halrinso, "but there is one thing you should know: I do not tell jokes. Come to think of it, I sometimes wonder if I even have a sense of humor."

"Halrinso is a very practical security guard." Tom whispered in Mike's ear. "He takes his responsibilities very seriously and he tolerates no nonsense. And don't worry; he has a sense of humor. Sure, it may be poorly developed, but it is there nonetheless."

"Captain," Marquez declared, "I'll be accompanying you on your tour as well. If you have any questions as to the layout or operations of the ship, just let me know."

Captain Larson just nodded and said "The more, the merrier." He turned to Halrinso and suggested "Shall we begin?"

Halrinso held his hand down the corridor and said "This way, Captain."

The four men headed down the corridor to begin their inspection of the ship. They headed to Main Engineering first. The engine room there was a lot like that of the _Enterprise-D _and the _Voyager_. But there were three levels instead of just two. On each level, the walkways extended to the warp core in a few places. This was structured so that the warp core could be easily accessed from a terminal placed on the core itself. This was handy for making alterations to a certain part of the core in the event that just one part needed to be modified.

When the four men entered the engine room, Marquez did most of the talking:

"You see, Captain, in addition to our weapons and medicine, we have taken the liberty of upgrading our engines as well. Like the Galaxy-class starships, this ship has the ability to separate the saucer section from the stardrive section. In the event of that, we have a second warp core installed in the saucer section. It's smaller than the main warp core and only brought online during the saucer separation. It can't go higher than warp 5, but it is still quite effective."

Larson was most impressed by Marquez's extensive knowledge of not only the engine room, but virtually the entire ship.

When Marquez was finished explaining the engine room, he told Larson "As the Admiral told you earlier, Captain, you're still in need of a Chief Engineer. Between you and me, I would recommend Pearson over there."

Marquez gestured to a man around his age that was running a diagnostic on the plasma manifold. He said "Pearson is well-versed in all the operations of this ship, and he could tell you the location of all the buttons on any workstation in this room blindfolded. He is not quite familiar with all the engineering protocols yet, but I will see to it that he can cover them all."

"I'll be sure to include him in my list of nominees, Lieutenant." Larson told him.

A short time later, after inspecting many of the rooms, the four men made their way too sickbay. In sickbay, a crewmember with pointed ears was kneeling in front of a panel, working on a certain program. She was muttering under her breath as a Crenaran doctor came over to her. He asked her "Any progress, Ensign?"

"Not yet, sir." she told the doctor. "If I could only isolate the malfunction from the rest of the dataflow, I would be able to keep it out of the program."

The Crenarans were a blue-skinned species with a type of tusk protruding from the sides of their necks. Their average size was about that of a Human, and their hair varied in color. The Crenaran doctor on that ship had long black hair tied in a short ponytail.

The Crenaran doctor sighed and said "Figures this would happen right now. I just heard from Crewman Bush that the Captain arrived twenty minutes ago and he's making his first inspection of the ship. Fine time for this program to get a glitch in it."

"Don't worry." said the Ensign with the pointy ears. "I'll have this program up and ready for him."

"What program?" said a voice from the doorway. The Crenaran and the pointy-eared Ensign looked at the entrance. There was Captain Larson.

Upon seeing the Captain, the pointed-eared ensign rose to her feet and stood up straight. Larson, Paris, Halrinso, and Marquez entered sickbay. Mike approached the Crenaran and shook his hand while grinning widely. He asked him "How are you doing, **Doctor** Rizux?"

"I'm doing quite fine, **Captain**." answered the Crenaran.

"Science Officer and Chief Medical Officer's Assistant." said Larson, admiring Rizux's achievements. "You got yourself a sweet deal."

"Naturally, sir." said Rizux.

"I read in your report that you already knew Dr. Rizux before you came on board, sir." said Lieutenant Halrinso.

"That is correct, Lieutenant." said Larson. "He and I met when I was serving aboard the _Bradford_."

Halrinso led Larson over to the pointy-eared Ensign and told him "This is Ensign Nobema. She's our Operations Officer and Transporter Chief."

She shook hands with Larson. When they finished their handshake, he said "You're a Romulan?"

She nodded and said "Yes, and I am pleased to meet you, sir. I want you to know I am very proud to be a member of the senior staff on a prototype starship."

"It's a pleasure to have a Romulan on board." said Larson agreeably. "It's a sign that perhaps someday the Neutral Zone will become a shared territory after all."

Nobema grinned and focused her attention back on the panel. While she worked, Larson asked her "So, what was that program you were referring to?"

"Well, Captain…" Nobema began, "it's something that…" she paused while she made a slight adjustment to the coupling relays, and then continued with "something that I think you'll like, sir."

Then there was a beeping sound that indicated she was successful in deleting the glitch in the program. She stood up, said "Here we go" and activated the program.

A holographic person materialized in the middle of sickbay. Larson turned to the person, but was not as interested as one thought he would be. He assumed "An EMH?"

"Not just any EMH, sir." Rizux corrected him. "This is the latest in the series."

"It- I mean he- is the prototype of the Mark XV series." Nobema informed the Captain. "Starfleet Command felt it appropriate to assign the first of the latest model to the Champion-class prototype. He'll be our Chief Medical Officer full-time. Here, let me show you how he functions in relation to us."

She pressed a few buttons on the wall and everyone in the room focused on the EMH. He sprang to life. He started by yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"He yawns?" Larson whispered to Nobema.

"They felt it to be ideal that he seem more realistic." she enlightened him. "We've programmed him to yawn, sneeze, and cough at random intervals. We've even programmed him to stretch when he yawns every once in a while."

Larson raised one of his eyebrows, indicating that he was fascinated by their programming. The EMH then turned to him and said "Ah, you must be Captain Larson."

"You are correct, Doctor." said the Captain as he held out his hand.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you." said the EMH as he took Larson's hand and shook it. "Dr. Keller, at your service."

When their hands came apart, Larson looked at his own hand in amazement. He said aloud "His hand… it actually feels warm."

"My body is programmed to emanate small amounts of heat as the Human body does." the EMH explained. "Ensign Nobema felt that it, too, would make me seem more real."

Larson looked at Nobema and gave her an approving nod. Then he turned to the EMH and asked him "'Dr. Keller?'"

"Ever since the Mark IX series, all EMH units have surnames to go with their titles." Nobema explained. "It is just one more way to make them more like organic beings."

"Do you have a first name, Doctor?" Larson asked Keller.

"Not yet, sir." said the EMH. "All EMH units are allowed to select their own first names. It is a privilege few organic organisms have."

Admiral Paris was clearly fascinated as well. He said "I remember back when we were stranded in the Delta Quadrant. We were stuck with an EMH Mark I for our entire journey. He was an exemplary physician, but he would never shut up. Worse yet, I was stuck as his assistant for the last four years."

"There is no need for worry, Admiral." said Dr. Keller. "You will find me to be a lot more realistic and easier to get along with than the Mark I series."

Larson said to Nobema "Ensign, keep this up and you just may get promoted to Lieutenant in our first month out of port."

"Thank you, sir." said the young Romulan officer. "I look forward to it."


	4. Personal Background

Disclaimer: I own everyone I said I own before, as well as the characters Diana Marquez, Cheryl Hopkins, and Gabriella Marquez. All the other characters mentioned by name do not belong to me. I also own the Federation Starship USS _Circinus_.

After touring through many more rooms, the four men finally made it to the last room on the inspection list: the bridge. The _Champion_ Bridge was a crossover of the bridges from Galaxy-class and Intrepid-class models. Casey was posted up front at the helm and Miral was posted a few feet diagonally behind him to the right at the tactical station. A young officer with the pips of Lieutenant Commander was sitting in the Second Officer's chair. When he saw the group of four entering the bridge, he stood up straight and announced "Admiral and Captain on the bridge!"

Everyone on the bridge who was sitting rose to their feet. Admiral Paris raised his hand and said "At ease." Then everyone settled down and returned to their work. The young commander walked to the group of four men and said "Good day, Captain Larson. I am your Second Officer."

"Oh, so this must be that dexterous officer with the incredibly high IQ I've heard about." said Larson as he shook the young man's hand. "Lieutenant Commander Patrick Wood, is it?"

"Yes, sir." said the young officer. "And my IQ is remarkable, but I prefer to be modest about it. However, if you like, you may ask me any challenging question, and I can answer it within eight seconds."

"Alright." said Mike. "Tell me, what is the square of 436 plus the cube of 261?"

"17969677." answered Wood.

"Computer, is that correct?" Larson asked the mainframe.

The computer beeped "Affirmative."

"Computer, determine if what Commander Wood says is true or false as soon as he says it." Admiral Paris ordered the computer. The computer beeped and said "Ready."

"Alright then…" said Larson. "What is the 46th digit of pi?"

"If you count the integer at the beginning," said Wood, "it is 9. But if not, the 46th digit is 3."

"Affirmative." said the computer.

"Tell me the 17th through 21st Presidents of the United States and the years they served in office." said the Captain.

"There was Andrew Johnson," said Commander Wood, "who entered office upon the death of President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14th, 1865 at the beginning of his second term, right after the American Civil War ended. Johnson served from 1865 to 1869. Then there was Ulysses Simpson Grant, who served from 1869 to 1877. Following Grant was Rutherford Brichard Hayes, serving in office from 1877 to 1881. James Abram Garfield came after Hayes in the election of 1880, but he was shot in the back by Anarchist Charles Julius Guiteau on July 2nd, 1881 after only four months in office. Two months later, he died in his bed on September 19th, 1881. His Vice President, Chester Alan Arthur, took over the office and finished Garfield's term from 1881 to 1885."

"Affirmative." said the computer.

"How much time, down to the second, would it take us to get from here at Utopia Planitia to Alpha Centauri at warp 6?"

"If we left now," said the commander, "it would take one week, two days, twenty-one hours, thirteen minutes, and thirty-nine seconds. On a side note, it would also take an extra five hundred, eighty-six milliseconds. No nanoseconds, however."

"Affirmative." said the computer.

"Well, that's too much time." said Larson. "I guess we'll need to increase speed to warp 8."

"Sir?" said Lieutenant Halrinso.

"We're still in need of a Linguistic and Communications Officer, Mr. Halrinso." said Larson. "There's a much endowed one there who just graduated from the Academy. She's still waiting on her first assignment, but I suggest that we try to get to her first before Starfleet Command comes through with it."

"A sensible idea, sir." said Commander Wood. "And leaving at warp 8 will shorten the time to three days, eleven hours, fifty-three minutes, twenty-seven seconds, and three hundred, ninety-four milliseconds."

"Thank you for that, Mr. Wood." said Larson. "Are there any nanoseconds with that?"

"Yes, sir." said Wood. "I would say four hundred, seventy-two thousand, three hundred, and twenty-eight. But that's just an approximation."

"Thank you, Commander." said Larson. "You have the bridge. I'll be in my ready room if anyone needs me."

Wood nodded, said "Yes, sir" and sat back down in the Second Officer's chair.

Halrinso took his position at the security station and Marquez left the bridge to check up on the engineers in Main Engineering.

Larson and Paris walked into the ready room. The former sat down at his new desk and got comfortable. Tom just stood in the air and asked him "So, what do you think of the ship?"

"Magnificent." he summarized. "The crew seems to be a fine credit to her. Already I feel proud to be their Captain."

"I'm sure that they will soon be proud to call themselves your crew." said Tom.

Mike looked up at him and gave a smirk of appreciation.

"Though I must ask, who is this person you plan to pick up from Alpha Centauri?" inquired Paris.

"Oh, it is a fresh graduate from the Academy." Larson told him. "Her name is Cheryl Hopkins, and she has all the necessary qualifications for the position I'm going to offer her."

"How so?" asked Tom.

"She speaks many languages," Mike explained, "such as Klingonesse, Bajoran, Ferengi, and she's even managed to comprehend much of the language of the Breen."

Paris whistled. "Now **that's **what I call an accomplishment."

"You're telling me." said Larson. Paris then said to him "I wish to accompany you on the away team."

"Of course." said Larson. "But why?"

"There's a friend of mine who works and resides in the same vicinity as Miss Hopkins." the Admiral explained. "His homeworld is in close proximity to the primary location of the _Champion_'s first assignment."

"We've already got our first assignment in?" said Mike.

"Yes, but we've been told to wait until we have a full senior staff." Tom clarified.

"Fair enough." said Larson. "How soon can we get underway?"

"Well, we have to wait for the _Pennington _to arrive first." Paris told him. "That'll be in just slightly over an hour. Once they've transported all the civilian members of the crew on board, we can depart from Utopia Planitia."

"Then it looks like we have an hour to kill." Mike concluded.

"I do believe you are correct." said Tom. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Mike. I'm going to go to my shuttle and send a message to B'Elanna. She'll be arriving later on the _Pennington _so that the two of us can see Miral off on her new assignment."

"Go ahead, Tom." said Mike. "I'll be in here if you need me."

Admiral Paris left Captain Larson in his ready room. Larson just got comfortable and leaned back in his chair. While he waited for the _Pennington_, he decided to look over the crew manifest one more time.

Out on the bridge, Tom was just stepping into the turbolift and saying "Deck 5." When the door to it closed, some of the bridge crew started conversing with each other.

"Well, what are your first impressions of the Captain?" asked Halrinso to no one in particular.

"He seems just as excited about all of this as we are." Miral answered.

"Clearly he has been looking forward to this for a long time." speculated Nobema, who had just arrived on the bridge and was posted at the ops station.

"He seems to be a good-natured and considerate person." Wood speculated.

"I think I'm going to like him." stated Casey.

"I believe I will as well." Nobema declared.

"Well, he certainly didn't waste any time testing my IQ." Wood chimed in.

"Commander, I believe he only asked you those questions because he was impressed by how you possess superior brain activity." Nobema conjectured.

"She's right, Patrick." said Miral. "Besides, I thought you enjoyed being tested."

"I do." said Patrick. "Did I sound like I was complaining, Miral? If I did, I should let you know that I was not."

"I sometimes wonder about that." said Casey.

"What's that supposed to mean, Lieutenant?" asked Wood.

"Oh, nothing, Commander." Casey replied somewhat coarsely. "Nothing at all."

"Nick, it had to have meant something." said Miral.

"It was nothing." Casey insisted.

"Ensign, Lieutenants, Commander," Halrinso interjected, "I merely asked you for your thoughts on Captain Larson. There is a time for going further into that subject by means of socializing and discussing your personal feelings and conceptions about him. But please… do not do it while we're on duty on the bridge."

Everyone agreed with Halrinso's request and returned to their work.

Larson sat in his Ready Room, expecting company to arrive soon. To pass the time, he was over viewing the reports on the crew manifest. He had found that each and every member of the crew was unique in their own way. That was one thing he always admired on a starship: the diversity in personality traits amongst the crew. Finally, there came a chime from the door. "Come in!" he called out.

Lieutenant Marquez entered the room with his materials in hand. He asked the man sitting in front of him "You wished to see me, sir?"

"That is correct, Mr. Marquez." said Mike. "I need you to answer a question for me."

"Ask away, sir." said Seth.

Larson opened up his file database on the computer terminal and then asked Marquez "What will your next assignment be after this ship sets off, Lieutenant?"

"Well, sir, I frankly have yet to discover that myself." Marquez replied. "As of right now, I'm on hold. Starfleet has no shortage of engineers, after all."

After opening up the list of the senior staff on his terminal, he showed the list to Marquez. While doing this, he said "As you know, while I have found a person for the Linguistics Manager, I am still in need of a Chief Engineer and a First Officer. I am continuing to search for an ideal choice for the latter, but I believe I have found a superlative choice for the former."

"Who would that be, sir?" asked Marquez. "Who do you think would make a good Chief Engineer on the prototype of the Champion-class?"

Larson just looked up at Marquez, and said with a wide grin "You, Lieutenant."

Marquez looked too stunned to speak. After a moment of silence, he said "Me, sir?"

"Well, you're the only person in this room, so yes, I mean you." said Larson somewhat sarcastically.

"But I thought Lieutenant Pearson was at the front of the line." Marquez speculated.

"He is." Larson confirmed. "Or I should say he was. But that was before you accompanied Admiral Paris, Mr. Halrinso, and me on the inspection of the ship. You went along well with Mr. Halrinso and you seem to know more about the operations of this ship than any person onboard. This would designate you as the most ideal choice for the Chief."

Marquez smiled and told Mike "Captain, don't get me wrong. I would love to accept the position of Chief Engineer; it's just that…"

"What is the problem, Lieutenant?" inquired Larson.

Marquez sighed, knowing that what he had to say would have to come out sooner or later. He then told the Captain "I have a daughter, sir."

Larson looked a little surprised by how serious the Lieutenant was in his answer. He looked for something to say, but all that came to mind was "I wasn't aware you were married, Lieutenant."

"I'm not, sir." said Marquez. "Nor have I ever been married."

Captain Larson just sat there, and then he asked the Lieutenant "How old is your daughter?"

"Fifteen." the engineer answered.

"And you?" said his superior officer.

Marquez just sighed at that moment, and then he answered plainly "Thirty-two."

At that, Larson sat straight up in his seat. He said "Wait a minute. That implies that your daughter was born when you were seventeen."

"You are correct, sir." said Marquez.

"You had a child before you even joined Starfleet?" said Larson.

"Yes." said Marquez. "Let me explain that."

Larson shrugged and said "Pull up a seat and talk to me. We aren't scheduled to depart until the _Pennington _arrives, and that could be for quite a while."

Marquez sat down in a chair in front of the Captain's desk. Then he explained his life story: "Ever since I looked up at the stars on Earth when I was four years old, I decided that I wanted to be in Starfleet. But when I was sixteen, I slept with a close friend of mine. Her name was Gabriella. I never really considered her my girlfriend; just a very close friend. At any rate, I feared that my ambition of joining Starfleet was gone when Gabriella told me she was pregnant. You see, neither she nor I would consider terminating the pregnancy, as that went directly against our ethics. In the end, we decided to keep the baby."

"An admirable decision." said Larson, admitting his respect for Marquez's decision to accept responsibility as a parent. "Please, continue."

Marquez went on: "Fortunately for me, Gabriella was just a few weeks older than I am, and she always had a goal to join Starfleet as well. Both of us submitted our formal requests to the Federation Council. We both easily had the merits and the skills required for any good officers, but the issue of Diana made our requests two of the most controversial ones in the history of Starfleet."

"Diana?" asked Captain Larson.

"Oh, that's the name we gave our daughter." Marquez enlightened him. "Providentially, at the time, my mother was a very influential member of the Council. She was able to convince some of them to give me and Gabriella a chance. In the end, more of the Council decided to let me and Gabriella enter Starfleet. They even let us be roommates so that we could play an equal role in raising Diana. Finally, after four years at the Academy and of raising our little girl, Gabriella and I graduated within the top ten percentile."

"What happened after that?" asked Larson, becoming increasingly more curious and interested in Seth's story.

"Well, Gabriella and I managed to get assigned to the same ship." Marquez resumed. "It was the USS _Circinus_."

"The _Circinus_?" said Larson. "You mean…"

"Yes, sir." Marquez confirmed. "It was the same _Circinus _as the one that was destroyed by the Romulans eight years ago. Gabriella and I were still on it when that happened."

"What happened next?" asked Larson.

"Well, Gabriella and I had been growing continually closer over the years." Marquez told the Captain. "I had finally decided I would ask her to marry me. Then during a mission in the Neutral Zone, two rogue Romulan warbirds decloaked out of nowhere and started firing on us. However, we were more than able of defending ourselves. In the end, we managed to destroy both warbirds. But the damage had already been done to the _Circinus_. The Captain managed to get many of us to the escape pods. I had been on duty in engineering and Gabriella had been posted on the bridge. I had a friend of mine get Diana to the escape pods, and then I went to find Gabriella. But when I got to the bridge, I found that the room was in shambles. Then one of my friends came running out. He told me that he had found Gabriella in the front of the room, but she was dead. At first I could not believe it, and I wanted to verify this myself before giving up, but a warp core breach was imminent and my friend told me that we only had a short amount of time to get off the ship. So we headed for the escape pods. There was only one pod left. Everyone who was still alive had made it off the ships. We found that a few people had lingered just for us. So we both got on and left, just like that. As we left, I looked back at the _Circinus_. When we were twenty million kilometers away, the warp core containment field gave way and the core erupted. The entire ship was destroyed in less than five seconds."

Larson could see that telling this story was very difficult for Marquez. He told him "I'm very sorry for your loss, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Captain." said Seth.

"What happened after this?" the superior officer queried.

"Well, Diana had gotten onto a different escape pod." Seth divulged him. "All the escape pods rendezvoused at the nearest Federation outpost. There she and I were reunited. Later we were picked up by another starship to be transported back to Starfleet Command. But on our way back to Earth, I took the time to watch Diana as she slept peacefully in her bed. She had cried herself to sleep that night over the loss of her mother. But after that day, she was able to handle Gabriella's death. I, however, was far from settling down at the concept. While I watched my daughter sleep, I then realized that this sort of incident could happen again at any time on a starship. I discovered that Diana could be killed just as her mother had been if ever the next ship I was assigned to was attacked. I decided that that was an unacceptable risk. I was not content with the idea of Diana going to live with my parents or anyone else, so I had her stay with me."

Marquez just looked down at his lap. Larson was able to comprehend the reason for Seth's mixed feelings about his offer of making him Chief Engineer. He alleged "Let me take a shrewd guess. For the past seven years, you've made sure to only get assigned to outposts, stations, or bases. At the same time, you have made sure to avoid getting assigned to any starship."

"You are entirely correct, sir." said Marquez. Larson could see that he was almost on the verge of tears. "I just can't risk Diana's life out here; I love her too much."

Then he covered his face in his hands and started lightly sobbing. Larson stood up and walked around to sit his desk to sit next to Marquez. He patted him on the back and said "Lieutenant, I know how you feel. I have a wife and we have a pair of twins- a boy and a girl. If the situation had no other reasonable alternative, I would sacrifice my career in Starfleet for all of them."

Marquez looked up at the Captain and said "That is exactly what I would do for Diana."

Larson put his hand on Marquez's shoulder and told him "I will not take any vastly unnecessary risks while I am in command of this starship, Lieutenant. Unfortunately, even with our advanced weaponry, I cannot guarantee that there will be no risk to the crew. But I do promise you that I will never force the crew to endear unacceptable hazards. However, I will need men like you on board this ship in order to ensure that we are safe. I will need people who are familiar with the entire layout of the ship."

Seth took some time to think about Mike's proposition. Larson took his hand off his shoulder and sat back down in his chair. Then he said "All I ask is that you consider my offer, Lieutenant. I will respect whatever decision you make. You are dismissed."

Marquez had stopped his weeping and nodded at the Captain. Then he stood up and walked to the door. The door opened and he was about to leave the room when Mike called to him "Seth, I just want you to know… I would prefer that you stay onboard. But it's your decision completely."

"I'll think about it, sir." Marquez promised the _Champion_'s commanding officer as he left the room.


	5. Promises

Disclaimer: I own everyone I said I own before, and I also own Emily Larson, Sherman Larson, Helen Larson, Shelton, and Crewman Dudley. You know who doesn't belong to me.

Larson was once again alone in his ready room. He sat thinking about his new command and his new crew. While he was thinking, Halrinso said over the combadge line "Halrinso to the Captain."

Larson tapped his combadge and said "Larson here. What is, Lieutenant?"

"The USS _Pennington_ has just arrived, sir." the Bolian officer responded. "They're requesting permission to beam over all of the _Champion_'s civilian population, as well as their luggage and some personal property of others members of the crew."

Larson just grinned. He was finally going to see his wife and his children after hours of getting his new command and the ship in order. He said into his combadge "Have all transporter rooms except Transporter Room 1 beam the luggage and personal property to the rooms of the people they belong to. Then meet me in Transporter Room 1. We'll beam all the passengers in from there."

"Yes, sir." said Halrinso.

Larson got out of his chair and departed from the ready room. As he and Halrinso walked to the turbolift, he said to Wood "You still have the bridge, Patrick. I'll be back in about an hour."

"Captain," said Miral, "request permission to accompany you. My mother will be coming aboard from the _Pennington_. I want to be there to greet her with my father."

"Come right along, Lieutenant." Larson smirked. As they headed to the turbolift, Larson said "Miss Nobema, if you would join us, please." Then he, Nobema, Miral, and Halrinso walked to the turbolift. Then they got in and Mike announced "Deck 5."

They went down four decks to the transporter and shuttle deck. Once they were there, they walked down the corridors to Transporter Room 1. Tom had already arrived there, along with a few security guards. Halrinso stood with the other security guards as the Admiral, his daughter, and the Captain stood in the center of the room. Nobema stood at the workstation and prepared to start transporting the civilian members of the crew over.

After a short wait, there was a beep at the panel in front of her. She informed Larson "Captain, the first group is ready to transport over. Rear Admiral B'Elanna Paris is in the group."

Tom and Miral were excited at the bit of news Nobema had just delivered. Captain Larson ordered her "Transport group one, Ensign."

"Aye, sir." Nobema entered the proper code into the transporter and beamed over the first six passengers from the _Pennington_. The group was composed of three children, two young adults, and Rear Admiral B'Elanna Paris. They all stepped off the platform and Tom moved up to B'Elanna very swiftly. The two of them embraced each other and kissed right there. When they came apart, Miral joined her parents.

"So, Tactical Officer?" said B'Elanna. "I'd say you got yourself a sweet deal, Miral."

"Thanks, Mom." said the young lieutenant.

B'Elanna's eyes then fell across Captain Larson. Holding her hand out to him, she said "And just look at you! Captain Michael Larson."

Mike almost blushed at B'Elanna's comment. But then he said "Yeah, I've waited for this for a long time, Admiral."

"Mike, just call me B'Elanna." said the half-Klingon.

"Of course I will." said Larson.

B'Elanna had been the Chief Engineer and Second Officer of the _Bradford _when Tom had been its Captain and Mike had been the Operations Officer. He had also made Captain much faster than either of them had.

There was another beeping sound coming from the transporter station. Ensign Nobema announced to Larson "Captain, the second group is ready to transport over."

"Very good, Ensign." said Larson. "Energize."

Nobema swiftly transported the next six people into the room. Among them was an average-height fifteen-year old girl with her long black hair which was held back with a headband. She noticed Mike and approached him. Then she said "Excuse me, are you Captain Larson?"

"Yes."

"Could please tell me where I could find Seth Marquez?"

Mike said out loud "Computer, locate Lieutenant Marquez."

The response was "Lieutenant Marquez is in main engineering."

"To get there," Tom told the girl, "you need to go to a turbolift and say out loud 'Deck 40.' Once you're there, ask for directions from the panels on the wall. They'll lead you wherever you want to go."

"Thank you." said the teenager. She was about to leave when Larson said hastily "Wait."

The teenager looked to him to hear what he had to say. Finally, he said it: "Are you Diana?"

"Yes." she said quickly. He said just as quickly "That is all. You may go see the Lieutenant now."

She then left the room. Tom had a look of mild bewilderment on his face. He veered toward Mike and asked him "Who was that?"

"Lieutenant Marquez's daughter." Mike replied.

"Daughter?" said Tom. "But Seth told me he's thirty-two. She must be at least thirteen."

"Fifteen, actually." Mike corrected him.

"What?" said B'Elanna. "How do you know that? In fact, how do you know about Diana in the first place?"

"Long story." said Mike. "And I mean very long. If you want to hear it, ask Seth. He'll tell you."

"I'll keep that in mind." said B'Elanna.

"This all should have been in his profile." Mike observed. "Didn't you read it before you met him?"

"We only need to know about the work people have done in regards to their careers." Tom explained. "The Federation Council is the only group that is required to know every bit about every Starfleet officer's personal life. Everyone else is required to respect their privacy to some degree."

Miral said to her parents "Come on. I want to show you my post on the bridge."

B'Elanna agreed and said "Let's go, Tom."

"You got it." said her husband. Before leaving, Tom told Mike "Say 'hello' to Emily for us." Then he left the room with his wife and daughter.

Shortly after the Admirals left with their daughter, Nobema announced "Captain, the third group is ready."

"You know what to do, Ensign." said Larson.

Nobema brought the next group over. The second group included two children of opposite genders that looked very much alike, and a blond woman of thirty-three years of age. That was Emily Larson; Captain Larson's wife. The twins were their two children. She saw her husband standing right in front of her and burst into a wide smile.

"Welcome aboard, O fair one." he said cheerfully.

Emily stepped off the transporter and her husband embraced her warmly. When then came apart, she said "Just by the view we had from the _Pennington_, you could tell this is a magnificent ship. I would say she has a magnificent captain, too."

"Thank you for that, Emily." said Larson. He kneeled on the ground and his two children came to him, hugging him tightly.

"Dad, should we classify the ship as 'home' now?" asked Sherman.

Mike chuckled and said "You could say that, Sherman."

"When do we leave?" asked Helen.

"As soon as the rest of the passengers from the _Pennington _come on board and I have spoken with the senior staff, we'll be leaving." Larson answered.

"Do you want me to have the senior staff assemble in the conference room, sir?" asked Halrinso.

"Yes, Lieutenant." said the Captain. "But don't notify them until the last group from the _Pennington _comes on board."

"Aye, sir." said Halrinso.

Sherman and Helen were a little scared of Halrinso. They had never seen a fully grown Bolian before, even though they did have a few Bolian classmates at their school on Earth. Mike just told them "Sherman, Helen, relax. This is Lieutenant Halrinso, the ship's Security Chief."

"It's men like him that keep us safe." Nobema said to the children.

Emily saw Nobema and was startled to see a Romulan on board. But Mike simply assured her "It's alright, Emily. This is Ensign Nobema, our Operations Officer and, as you may have guessed, Transporter Chief."

"I wasn't aware there were Romulans in Starfleet." said Emily.

"I've heard there are many hybrids." Nobema speculated. "Say for example, Human-Romulan, Vulcan-Romulan. But to my knowledge, I am the only pureblood Romulan in Starfleet."

She held out her hand to Emily. The latter slowly approached and shook it. Nobema said "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Larson."

"On a side note, there is no need for you to concern yourself with safety." Halrinso said to Emily. "This ship is perhaps as secure as the Fort Knox bank on Earth." The look of worry fell off of Emily's face. Halrinso held out his hand to her.

Emily then stepped forward and shook hands with Halrinso. He reassured her "My men and I can guarantee your children's safety aboard this ship, Mrs. Larson."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." she said gratefully.

"Would you care to see your quarters?" the Bolian offered.

"That would be nice." said Emily. "After sitting in a crowded ship for a few hours, it's nice to have some room to stretch."

"Shelton will show you to your quarters." said Halrinso. At that, one of the security guards who had accompanied the Security Chief stepped toward the door and gestured for Emily to follow. She was about to leave with Sherman and Helen when she noticed Mike wasn't coming along.

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to stay here and greet the rest of the passengers as they come on board." he said.

"Well, it is one of your Captain's prerogatives." said Emily. "But can I safely assume you'll join us after your meeting with the senior staff?"

"I'll need to be on the bridge for a few minutes after the meeting." he told her. "But after that, I'll be down there."

Shelton then led Emily and her two children to their quarters. Mike stayed in the transporter room as wave after wave of passengers materialized on the transporter pad. He warmly greeted each and every person as they arrived onto the ship.

In Main Engineering, Marquez was briefing Lieutenant Pearson on some of the more complex details of the warp core. Suddenly, somebody tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw it was a security guard. "What is it, Mr. Dudley?"

"The _Pennington _just arrived, sir." the crewman answered. "Your daughter is here to see you."

Marquez grinned and said "Thank you, Crewman."

Dudley returned to his post and Marquez said to Pearson "Please give me a moment."

"Of course, sir." said Pearson. He went to work at a nearby work station. Marquez moved closer to the door. When he was within twenty feet of it, it opened. Diana stepped in. She and her father walked quickly toward to each other and embraced firmly. He lifted her a few inches into the air as he hugged her. After he put her down and released her, he said "I'm glad you're here, sweetie."

"So am I, Daddy." she told him. "Quite a ship you've put together."

"I'd have to agree with you on that." he nodded.

"Too bad we're not staying on it." she smirked. But the smirk faded away when she saw the expression on her father's face change.

"What is it, Dad?"

"Well, about that…" he began. He remained in stillness for a brief instant, and then he explained what was on his mind "Captain Larson has offered me a position here on the ship: Chief Engineer."

"What did you say?" asked Diana.

"I told him I'd consider his offer." he rejoined. "But I don't think I'm going to accept it."

"Why not?" she inquired.

"You probably already know the answer to that question." he came back with.

"Oh God, Dad," she said exasperatedly, "it's because of what happened on the _Circinus_, isn't it?"

"That is my reason exactly." said Seth.

"Dad, this ship is larger and stronger than the _Circinus_." Diana pointed out. "I'm sure it would be able to handle any problems it encountered."

"I still can't take the risk." said Marquez.

"Dad, this is a starship, not the barge of the dead." Diana said aloud.

Marquez turned around and walked back to the workstation while saying over his shoulder "There's a reason for why it's so heavily-armed, Diana."

"I thought its armaments were only meant as a precautionary measure." Diana noted.

"They are." Marquez confirmed as he worked at the workstation. "That implies that we expect a ship like this to run into more than its fair share of dilemmas."

"You're overreacting, Dad." she declared. "You're being overprotective, too."

"If you had a child of your own, you'd understand." said Marquez as he continued to work.

"And if you had a parent that was in Starfleet, you'd be willing to accept the risks for some adventure." she countered him. "You can't run away from reality!"

He spun around to her and almost yelled "I've already lost your mother! I refuse to chance losing you, too!"

The two of them had attracted a lot of attention in the room. Many members of the crew were looking at them. Marquez noticed and snapped "Don't you people have work to do?"

Everybody quickly stopped staring and went back to work.

Marquez looked his daughter in the eye and told her "I've got a lot of work to do right now. We have some of the best engineers in Starfleet working here, but I still need to explain some of the details to Pearson if he's going to be the Chief."

"You could always save yourself the trouble by accepting Captain Larson's offer." Diana suggested, folding her arms.

There was a long pause between the two. Finally, Marquez said "Our temporary quarters are on Deck 18, Section 31-Theta, Room 1854. Go there and wait for me. We'll discuss this subject later when I have completed my work."

Diana nodded and headed for the door with her arms still folded. Just as the door opened and she was about to leave, she turned back in and called to Marquez "Daddy."

He turned away from the workstation and toward her, waiting to hear what she had to say. What she said was "I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself safe."

He gave a little smile and said "I know that."

She just said "Do you?" and left without another word. Marquez thought about going after her, but instead decided that she needed some time to herself. He turned to the panel and was about to return to his work when Halrinso said over the comline "All senior officers, report to the conference room."

"Pearson, that includes you." Marquez called over to the young officer.

"But I haven't been confirmed as the Chief yet, sir." Pearson told him.

"Well, as of now, you're the best choice." Marquez told him.

"Actually, sir, I do think it would be better for all of us if you accepted the Captain's offer." Pearson suggested.

Marquez sighed and said "Mr. Pearson, if you are referring to that little discussion I just had with my daughter…"

"I knew about it before your daughter came in here, sir." Pearson interrupted. "In my mind, she's right. You should become the Chief Engineer."

"But I'm not even a member of the crew!" said Marquez. "I'm just here right now as an overseer of the ship's operations!"

"Then request a transfer." proposed Pearson. "I know you are waiting on your next assignment. You have plenty of time to request a transfer before Starfleet Command sends you one."

"And you wouldn't mind being my subordinate?" assumed Marquez.

"Sir, I would be more than content to be your assistant." Pearson replied.

Marquez just stood there in front of him for a moment. Then he patted him on the shoulder and said "Come on. We've got a meeting to attend."

Then they exited engineering together and headed for the bridge.


	6. Settling In

Disclaimer: I don't believe there is any new character I own that is introduced in this chapter. But all the same, I own all the ones I claim to own. There aren't any new starships either.

In the conference room, most of the senior staff had assembled. The conference table was a very long and slightly curved one.

Captain Larson sat at one end of it. On the wall to his left, there was a large monitor. On the wall to his right, there was a large window that covered most of the wall. Sure, one could observe the stars from anywhere on the ship, but this was considered by some to be the best part on the ship for stargazing.

Lieutenant Commander Wood sat to his left. The chair to his right was empty. That was designated as the First Officer's seat. Lieutenant Miral Paris sat on the other side of that seat, and Dr. Keller sat next to her. There was another empty seat next to Dr. Keller, which was reserved for the Chief Engineer. The seat on the other side of that empty one was occupied by Dr. Rizux.

On the other side of the table, Ensign Nobema sat to Commander Wood's left, and to her left there was another empty seat. That seat was where the Communications Officer would sit. On the other side of the seat, Lieutenant Casey sat in his chair. Next to Casey was Lieutenant Halrinso.

There were three more chairs at that table for extra members of the crew. Rear Admiral B'Elanna Paris sat next to Dr. Rizux. Her husband, Fleet Admiral Tom Paris, sat to her right. The seat to Tom's right- which was also the seat to Halrinso's left- was empty as well. This was the current seating arrangement:

Rear Adm. Paris _ Dr. Rizux _..._ (Empty) _..._ Dr. Keller _..._ Lt. J.G. Paris _..._ (Empty)_..._

Fleet Adm. Paris _..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._ Capt. Larson

_..._ (Empty) _..._ Lt. Halrinso _ Lt. J.G. Casey _ (Empty) _..._ Ens. Nobema _..._ Lt. Cmdr. Wood

Soon, Lt. Pearson arrived with Lt. Marquez. Neither of them sat at the Chief Engineer seat at first. Then Pearson finally agreed to take that seat. Marquez took the seat in between Tom and Halrinso. Once they were seated, Captain Larson began the meeting with "Now then, all the registered members of the crew have just arrived. I was hoping that we could get underway as soon as possible. I would like to start with a brief report from each of the senior staff on the condition of their department."

In the meeting, Commander Wood gave a report on the science division, Nobema delivered a report on ops, and the rest of the senior staff gave their status reports in turn.

When they were finished, Larson sat up and told the staff "We are still need to fill in three more positions of the senior staff. I am still searching for an Executive Officer, but I have found a promising candidate for Communications Officer. There are also some people on board that I am… considering for Chief Engineer."

As a courteous gesture, no one glanced at Marquez. Larson simply continued the debriefing: "We'll be heading to Alpha Centauri once this meeting is over to pick up my candidate for the Communications Officer. She just graduated from the Academy and Starfleet Command has confirmed that she is still waiting on her first assignment. Her name is Cheryl Hopkins."

Casey's eyes suddenly lit up, but that was unnoticed by everyone else in the room. Larson went on "While we proceed on course to Alpha Centauri, I will be looking through the Federation archives for an ideal XO. If any of you know someone with the rank of Commander who is hard-working, loyal, and available, let me know. I'll look over their profiles and decide for myself."

He looked around and said "We are now about to depart on the prototype of the Champion-class starship. This is a remarkable experience that I will have the privilege of sharing with all of you. I intend to share the experience with you as your Captain… and as your friend. Dismissed."

Everybody stood up and started heading out the door. But Larson said abruptly "Lieutenant Marquez, if I may speak to you for a moment."

Marquez turned around and looked at the Captain. "Yes, sir?"

"Have you given my offer any thought?"

"I have, sir." said the engineer. "And I have many mixed feelings about it. Right now I'm under a lot of pressure from both my daughter and the entire engineering staff. Both think I should accept the offer, but I'm not quite ready to decide just yet."

"Seth, I have a proposition for you." stated Larson. "From now until we've completed our first mission, I want you to work as Acting Chief Engineer. Whenever our first mission is complete, you can decide whether or not you wish to stay on board."

Shrugging, Marquez said "Your offer is acceptable to me, sir. However, I cannot guarantee I will accept."

"What you decide, I will accept, Mr. Marquez." said Larson.

The two of them then walked out onto the bridge. The entire senior staff was assembled there and everyone was at their posts. Larson finally sat in his Captain's Chair and breathed in deeply a few times. He breathed out as if he had just finished a ten-mile run. There was clearly a hint of thrill in his body movement, which was so keenly noticed by the Second Officer.

"Excited, Captain?" Wood remarked.

"You could say that, Commander." the Captain nodded, still breathing deeply. "It's not every day a man gets to be the first person to sit in the Captain's Chair of a prototype starship for the first time."

"I'd imagine." observed Wood.

Larson then turned his attention to the front of the room and looked out the viewscreen. He looked at the endless extension of space just outside the ship, fully realizing that it was all there for him and his crew to explore. Finally, he sat back and his chair and said "Lieutenant Casey, take us out of port."

"Taking us out of port, sir." Casey repeated as he worked on the helm controls.

The _Champion _pulled out of space dock at one-quarter impulse speed. All over the ship, people were looking out of windows and watching as the ship moved delicately out of the wharf. They waved at people that were inside the docks, who waved back. Once the _Champion _was fully out of the wharf, Casey reported "We're out, sir."

"Very good, Lieutenant." Larson commended Casey. "Now set a course for Alpha Centauri. Warp 8."

Casey turned to the controls and went to work. The _Champion _shifted its position so that it was on a direct course for Alpha Centauri. Once it finished shifting, Casey reported "Course set, Captain."

Taking a classic Jean-Luc Picard stance, Larson signaled Casey with "Engage."

"Aye, sir."

As the _Champion _cruised its way to Alpha Centauri, Captain Larson took some time to overview the progress of his senior staff on the bridge. Lieutenant Halrinso reported there were no breaches in security on the ship yet. Ensign Nobema reported that the ship's systems were in optimal condition. Lieutenant Casey was piloting the vessel smoothly through the vast regions of space. Doctors Keller and Rizux had returned to sickbay. They had over 1,400 medical history profiles to enter into the ship's database, so they wasted no time getting that accomplished.

Besides the physicians, Miral was the only official member of the senior staff not on the bridge. She had decided to show her room to her parents. Both of her parents were impressed by her quarters.

"There's so much room in here." B'Elanna was awed by how spacious the room was. "I don't recall the quarters your father and I shared on the _Voyager_ being this large. Even when you were on the way, we didn't have quarters of this size."

"That's an advantage to constant starship enhancement." Miral pointed out. "Every new class of starship has slightly larger crew quarters than those of the class preceding it."

Admiring the diverse décor in Miral's room, Tom noted "I especially like the way you blend the Klingon artifacts with the Human adornments. It gives the room a rather exclusive image."

"I'm glad you approve of it, Dad." said Miral. "I just got it the way I like it."

After about an hour of personal conversation, Miral sat down and looked around her quarters. She had had a light smile on her face up until that point. Then her smile abruptly changed to a frown. Her parents had been studying some of the adornments, but soon they noticed the frown on her face. Concerned for their daughter's frame of mind, they decided to find out if anything was bothering her. Tom asked her from across the room "Is everything alright, Miral?"

She had been lost in thought at that moment. But her father's voice had brought her back to reality. She looked at him and said "Oh, yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

B'Elanna approached her daughter and kneeled before her. Looking up into her eyes to establish that special mother-daughter connection, she assured her "Miral, if there is something on your mind, you can tell your father and me about it."

Miral gave in to their parents' concern. She explained her mind to them: "When you first told me about all this Kuvah'magh business when I was seven, I found it very hard to believe, but it made me feel special and important. However, nowadays, I feel that this prophecy may be more trouble than it's worth. It seems that almost everywhere I go there is a Klingon who is offering me something or wants to have my blessing. I know they are just following their beliefs, but it is still a little overwhelming at times."

Both Tom and B'Elanna snickered. Tom told his daughter "We know you may feel annoyed somewhat by this prophecy. But you should always look on the bright side: you've inspired hundreds of Klingons to enlist in Starfleet. I myself have had the privilege of signing the graduation certificates of a number of them."

"It may go even further than that." B'Elanna joined her husband. "This may be the very act that strengthens the alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire so much that the coalition becomes indissoluble."

Miral's parents had always found ways of saying or doing something to cheer her up whenever she was feeling a bit gloomy ever since the day she was born. Clearly, they were still capable of such things even after thirty years. Miral gave her parents an affectionate grin. Suddenly, she had a realization and said "Computer, time!"

The computer promptly replied with "The time is 1428 hours."

Miral jumped up and said "Damn! I'm going to be late for my next duty shift!"

After bidding her parents a good day, Miral left the room and ran for the bridge. She passed Larson on her way. He held his arm out to the side and told her "Woah there, Lieutenant! Slow down."

She slowed her pace to a walk and stopped completely next to the Captain. She told him "I'm sorry, Captain. It's just that I was showing my quarters to my parents. I lost track of the time, and I may late for my next shift on the bridge."

"Don't worry about that." said Larson. "I may not have known him for long, but one thing I can say with certainty about Commander Wood is that he is very understanding."

"I would have to agree with you there, sir." said Miral. "Most of the crew adores him for that. Where are you headed?"

"I'm off to **my **quarters to spend some time with my wife and our two kids." Larson answered her. "But I'd suggest you proceed with haste to the bridge. While Commander Wood may be very understanding, I doubt Lieutenant Harlinso has much tolerance for tardiness."

Right at that moment, Miral remembered that her afternoon shift on the bridge crossed over with Harlinso's shift. She also knew that he would not be pleased to see her- a fellow senior officer- show up late. She said "See you later, Captain!" and ran to the turbolift that ascended all the way up to the bridge.

Larson watched as his Tactical Officer disappeared down the corridor. After she was out of his sight, he resumed his walk to his quarters. It had been hours since he had come onboard the ship, and he still had yet to see the very room he would be sleeping in during his command of the _Champion_.

At long last, he made it to his quarters. She entered his access code into the panel and the doors opened up. The Captain was impressed by the size of his quarters. The biggest room in terms of the living quarters had always been the Captain's quarters. This room was certainly no exception; it was just slightly smaller than the bridge.

When he stepped in the room, he saw his wife Emily sitting on a couch reading a novel. Sherman and Helen were on the other side of the room playing a game of kadis-kot. Sherman had picked red as his first color and Helen had picked orange as her first color.

When they heard their father enter the room, they called out to him "Hi, Dad!" at the same time and resumed playing their game. "Hi, Sherman, Helen." he called back to the twins. He then went over to his wife and sat down on the couch next to her. He placed his hand on her knee, and she put her book down and looked affectionately into his face.

"I'm home." he told her in simple terms.

"Technically the entire ship is home." Emily theorized.

"True." Mike agreed. "But only you, Helen, Sherman, and I can call this room home. You could say I'm 'home' home."

Emily nodded, seeing the underlying principle in his words. She just put the book down and looked over at their two children across the room. Both of them were engrossed in their game.

"Peculiar, isn't it?" she said to her husband.

"What is?" he asked.

"Sherman and Helen's reactions to finally coming onboard." she clarified. "You will not believe how much energy they were full of on the trip over. They are so excited to see this ship. Now they are finally on it, and the first thing they do is play kadis-kot until you come home. They barely even speak while they play it."

Mike speculated "Perhaps they were just waiting until my shift on the bridge was over. Maybe they wanted to wait until the four of us were together."

"Let's find out." Emily suggested. The two of them got up and went over to their children. Mike asked them "Sherman, Helen, you want to go to the holodeck or something?"

"That would sound great, Dad." said Sherman.

"Just please let us finish this game first." Helen requested.

"Of course."

After about five minutes, Helen beat Sherman when she moved a green piece to grid 14-B. "Kadis-kot!" she shrieked gleefully.

Sherman told his father "That's the first time she's beaten me on this ship."

"First time for everything, Sherman." Mike reminded his son.

After the game board was put away, Mike and Emily took Helen and Sherman to one of the holodecks. Mike said to the mainframe "Computer, run program Larson-gamma-6."

"Program running." the computer responded.

Captain Larson and his family approached the doors. When they opened, Sherman and Helen were amazed at what they saw. The holodeck was playing a recreation of an entire amusement park. Sherman and Helen went over to the first ride they saw and got in line. The ride was a large roller coaster based upon the voyages of the original USS _Enterprise_.

When he saw that they were waiting eagerly, Mike said "Computer, delete characters in the line."

Everyone in front of Sherman and Helen disappeared. The two of them went up to the man at the gate. He let them in and they quickly got seated. As the roller coaster zoomed around the track, the twins held their arms in the air and shouted energetically.

Their parents watched their children as they went on the ride. They were both glad to see that they were enjoying themselves so much. Emily leaned her head on Mike's shoulder and whispered in his ear "I think they'll really like it here. I already do."

"So do I, Emily." he told his wife as he gently stroked her long golden hair. "So do I."


	7. Conducting Business

Disclaimer: I own Ziruto and everyone else I said I own before. Again, there are no new starships introduced in this chapter.

Three days after the _Champion _had departed from Utopia Planitia, they had finally arrived at their first destination. They slowly approached Alpha Centauri and stopped a few thousand kilometers away. The entire senior staff was assembled on the bridge at that moment. Captain Larson had notified the planet authorities in advance about the time of their arrival. Once they were within close communication range, they requested permission to assume an orbit.

"Captain, we're receiving a message from the surface." said Miral. "They're giving us clearance to enter orbit."

"You're up, Mr. Casey." Larson signaled his Flight Controller. Casey gracefully brought the _Champion _closer to the planet and stopped just at the edge of the atmosphere. After making a few slight adjustments, he announced "We're in standard orbit, sir."

Larson sat up in his chair and announced to the bridge crew "Alright, here's the plan: we'll send a few people down to the planet and meet with Crewman Hopkins. Then we can offer her the position of Communications Officer. Only time will tell if she will accept the offer." He then looked at Lieutenant Halrinso and asked him "Mr. Halrinso, where is Miss Hopkins currently located on the planet?"

"I had that checked before we left Utopia Planitia, sir." Halrinso told his Captain. "Her report indicates she is temporarily contributing to the planet security force. Today she is watching over a place in the Taomir province known as Ziruto's."

"Ziruto's?" said Admiral Tom Paris. "I know that place. It's a bar! It belongs to a friend of mine. I should probably come along because he's the one I told you about that has information regarding this ship's first assignment."

"Alright, then." said Larson. "We'll go down with type-1 phasers as a precaution. You never know what sort of trouble can crop up in a bar, even if it is under Federation jurisdiction. I will lead the away team. Lieutenant Halrinso and Fleet Admiral Paris will accompany me."

Larson stood up and was about to head for the turbolift when Lieutenant Casey turned around in his chair and said "Captain, request permission to join you to the surface."

Larson looked at his Chief Conn Officer, and then said "Alright, Lieutenant."

Casey got out of his chair and followed the Captain, the Security Chief, and the Fleet Admiral into the turbolift. Just before the turbolift doors closed, Larson said "You've got the bridge, Commander Wood."

Wood sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Everything alright, Commander?" inquired Ensign Nobema.

"Yes, everything is fine, Ensign." said Wood. "It just seems that I've been given command of the bridge a lot in the past four days. Not that I don't enjoy it, mind you."

"I believe you there, sir." Nobema smirked.

Fleet Admiral Paris, Captain Larson, and Lieutenants Halrinso and Casey materialized in the Taomir Province and looked around at the many tall buildings around them. Alpha Centauri had more species on it than any other in Federation space. It was nearing the evening on the planet, but it was still light enough so that everyone could see clearly.

"The main entrance to the bar is on the top floor of that building over there." the Admiral pointed out to the other three men. Then the four of them walked to the building, marched through the front doors, stepped into the nearest turbolift, and went all the way to the top.

When they arrived in the bar, they saw how large it was. It continued at least two stories downward, and almost all of the tables were occupied by at least one person. On the main floor, there were a group of scantily-clad singers and dancers performing in front of a group of men. The age of each man in the group varied, but they were all equally attracted in the singers. The four Starfleet officers looked around the room, and Lieutenant Halrinso asked the other three men "Do you see her?"

Finally, Captain Larson pointed to a table across the room and said "There she is."

Cheryl Hopkins was working on a security status report and sitting by herself at a table. She had a mild drink in front of her on the table. She was in uniform, but had removed her uniform jacket and hung it over the back of her chair. She still had on her She was sitting about fifteen feet from the counter. A group of Nausicaans were being served drinks by the Ferengi bartender. Soon, one of them pointed out the young officer to his friends and whispered something to them. After placing his drink on the counter, he stood up, walked up to her, and said rather abrasively "Greetings, Federation child."

She looked up and asked the large alien "May I help you?"

"Now that you mention it, yes, you can." the Nausicaan answered. "You may perform the next song with the rest of the dancers and singers for my friends and me."

At that, his friends laughed at the suggestion he gave the young woman. But totally unafraid, she simply responded with "I'm afraid I can't do that. For one, it's below the dignity of a Starfleet officer. And for another thing, I've got better things to be doing than providing some excitement to your miserable existence."

The Nausicaan slammed his fist down on the table and demanded "What was that?"

She calmly stood up and looked up into the tall man's hideous face. Then she said in his language "I'm not going to dance."

Stunned, he spoke in English "You know my vernacular?"

"I'm very well-versed in a variety of languages, one of which, yes, is yours." she told him.

Then they started having a short conversation in the Nausicaan language. Larson, Paris, Halrinso, and Casey just stood about eight meters away, impressed by Hopkins' boldness and dialectal skills. When the conversation finally ended, Hopkins simply said "I guess you'll have to find somebody else to be your servile little pawn."

The Nausicaan just snorted and turned around, saying aloud "How typical. These Federation types are all the same. They all emphasize the importance of following orders, but they disregard them continuously and at every chance they get."

However, he spoke loud enough so that Hopkins could hear. She walked up close behind him and said "I must admit you may be correct in one way. I mean, there's no one I know that's never disobeyed an order. However, at least we, unlike you, are not narcissistic, uncivilized, fetid barbarians."

Right then the Nausicaan lost control over the last thing Hopkins had just said. He shouted at her and swung his arm at her head. From across the room, Lieutenant Halrinso drew his phaser and aimed it at the Nausicaan. But Captain Larson placed his hand on Halrinso's hand. He whispered to him "Don't interfere. We'll see how Miss Hopkins handles this by herself."

Hopkins easily ducked from the Nausicaan's blow and seized his arm. Then she maneuvered herself around him, forcing his arm behind his back. Then she put her other hand on his back and pushed his upper body onto the table. Her drinking glass shook, but did not spill.

Hopkins now had the Nausicaan pinned down on the table. She said to him "You may learn a vital lesson from this: Starfleet officers keep people safe. While you are free to deny this all you want, the Federation is the very reason your people weren't conquered by the Dominion during the Dominion War."

"Is there a point to all this talk?" grunted the Nausicaan. He persistently tried to stand up straight, but Hopkins had him stuck in that remarkably uncomfortable angle.

"The Federation has a strict policy that killing is only permissible in self-defense or if it is the only alternative." she explained. "However, if enough people were to approach the Federation Council about this subject, the Council would be content to find a few loopholes in that policy. So I suggest that you be careful and behave yourself. Otherwise, the next time you and I cross paths, I may have discovered a loophole of my own in the policy."

Hopkins then swiftly released the Nausicaan from his undesirable position. He just looked her dead in the eye. She was not afraid of him, however. After another moment, the Nausicaan went to regroup with his friends. Hopkins watched in satisfaction as he walked off.

"Peculiar, isn't it?" said a voice behind her. "The first time Captain Jean-Luc Picard encountered a Nausicaan in a bar, he ended up needing a heart transplant afterwards. But in your first encounter, you emerge as the victorious one."

She turned around and saw who was speaking to her. It was Captain Larson. He had approached her while she had freed the Nausicaan from his hold. Admiral Paris and Lieutenants Casey and Halrinso were standing behind him.

Upon seeing the four men, she stood up straight and put on a serious face.

"At ease, Crewman." said the Captain. As Hopkins eased off her pose, she looked up at him and said "How are you today, Captain Larson?"

"I'm doing very well, Cheryl. Thank you for asking." Hopkins went over to her chair and picked up her uniform jacket. As she put it back on, Larson gesticulated to the three men behind him and introduced her "This is Fleet Admiral Tom Paris, Lieutenant Tymar Halrinso, and Lieutenant-"

"Nicholas Casey." Hopkins finished for Larson upon seeing the _Champion_'s Flight Controller. Casey smiled and nodded at her. As Larson looked back and forth at the two of them, he gave an assessment: "I take it you two have met before?"

"Aye, sir." said Casey. "She and I attended the Academy together. She was in her freshman year when I was in my senior year."

"I see." said the Captain.

"If you'll excuse me, Mike." said Tom. "I need to speak with the bartender. He has some useful information pertaining to the _Champion_'s first mission."

"Go right ahead, Admiral." said Larson.

Tom walked over to the bar. Lieutenant Halrinso joined him in order to ensure the Admiral's safety around the Nausicaans. At the counter, Tom slammed the palm of his hand down on the table and called out "Bartender!"

A fifty-year old Ferengi came scurrying around the bar. He was focused on a tray of drinks in his arms. As he randomly distributed them to the people who ordered them, he responded to Paris with "I'll be right with you."

When he was finally finished, he moved to Paris and asked him while looking down at the menu "What'll it be?"

Tom jovially replied with "How 'bout a hug for an old buddy?"

The Ferengi looked up at Paris and slowly he recognized his face. He uttered with a note of enthusiasm in his voice "Tom?"

The Admiral grinned and said "What's up, Z-ro?"

The Ferengi then cackled excitedly and made his way around the bar. When he reached Tom, the two of them hugged and laughed together. When they came apart, the Ferengi looked up at him and said "It's great to see ya!"

"Same here." said the Admiral with a smirk on his face.

Ziruto noticed Halrinso standing in rather close proximity to Paris. Motioning at him, he asked "Who's the Bolian?"

"Oh, this is Lieutenant Tymar Halrinso of the Starship _Champion_." Paris introduced the security chief. "Lieutenant, this is Ziruto, the proprietor of this bar."

"Good day." Halrinso greeted the Ferengi rather apathetically. Halrinso was very watchful of who he would and wouldn't trust. There were barely any Ferengi he trusted. But he was always careful to not let a person's race intervene with his treatment of them.

As Ziruto made his way around the bar, he asked Paris "Are you sure you don't want a drink?"

"No, thank you." said Tom. "We're here on business."

"Alright then." said Ziruto as he went to work cleaning out dirty glasses. "Who are you doing business with?"

Admiral Paris sat down and simply uttered "You."

Ziruto grinned a typical Ferengi smile with his disorganized teeth. He leaned forward and almost whispered "What do I get in return?"

"Oh, I would happen to know a few starships whose crews are in need of shore leave." said Paris. "I just may convince them to choose this planet and recommend them to this bar."

Ziruto leaned closer to the Admiral and, putting a hand to his large ear, said "I'm listening."

At that same moment, Larson, Hopkins, and Carey were seated at Hopkins' table. They were taking some time to talk informally before discussing their offer for Hopkins.

"That was a sweet move you pulled on that Nausicaan back there." Casey complimented her.

"Thank you." she said gratefully. "That self-defense class back at the Academy was a lot of help."

"One thing's for sure; that Nausicaan won't be troubling you again." said Larson.

"I would say so." Hopkins agreed.

Abruptly across the room, there was the sound of a glass breaking against the floor. Then people could see a Miradorn and a Chalnoth yelling at each other. Pretty soon, they were fighting with each other. People in close proximity to them got out of their chairs and moved off to the sides. Casey got out of his chair and drew his phaser. "Stun setting only, Casey." Larson redundantly reminded him.

Casey then pointed his phaser at the two arguing aliens, but Hopkins got out of her seat and told him "Nick, I'll handle this."

"How?" asked Casey.

"Just watch me." she beamed at him.

As Casey lowered his phaser, Hopkins walked across the room to the two brawling aliens. Then she spoke "Stop this!" first in the Miradorn language and then in the Chalnoth language. The two aliens stopped fighting and looked at her. They asked her in their native languages "What do you want?"

"Why are you fighting?" she asked the Chalnoth in his language.

"Ask him!" yelled the Chalnoth back in his language.

She looked at the Miradorn and said in his language "He says I should ask you the reason of your brawl."

The Miradorn explained in his tongue "I was getting up to go order a refill at the bar when he walked right into me! His action made me drop my glass!"

Hopkins turned back to the Chalnoth and told him in his dialect "He accuses you of causing him to drop his glass."

The Chalnoth replied in his language angrily "He lies! I was just walking by his table when he decided to get up and block my path before I had time to stop!"

As Hopkins continued to act as a translator between the two, Larson leaned over to Casey and asked him "What's she doing?"

Casey just grinned and answered "She's using her linguistic abilities to avoid a further fight between the Miradorn and the Chalnoth."

After a few minutes of talking, Hopkins actually got the Miradorn to apologize to the Chalnoth and vice versa. Fortunately, the fight had ended before anything else had been knocked over or broken. As a janitor picked up the fragments of the broken glass, everybody in the room clapped for Hopkins, the Chalnoth, and the Miradorn.

Hopkins walked back over to Larson and Casey. Larson was very impressed by the way she had settled the conflict between the two intrinsically hostile aliens. As she sat down, she began to laugh from the irony of her success. Casey soon joined her and Larson followed up close behind.

When their laughter subsided, Hopkins looked at Larson and asked him "So, what brings you to Alpha Centauri, Captain?"

Larson straightened himself up and answered her with "We're here for what you just managed to do."

Confused, Hopkins said "For stopping a bloody fight between a Miradorn and a Chalnoth?"

"No, he means we're here for the method in which you resolved it." Casey clarified.

"As you know, the _Champion _was just released from the Utopia Planitia Shipyards." Larson told Hopkins. "Starfleet Command wanted the ship out in the fields as soon as possible. However, due to the fact that the builders finished much sooner than they had planned, HQ was forced to put together a crew as quickly as possible in order to send the _Champion _on her way. The crew is very productive and cooperative, but there are still a few vacant spots on the senior staff."

"One of them is Linguistics/Communications Officer." Casey enlightened her.

Hopkins suddenly realized the nature of their visit. She asked Larson "Captain, are you offering me a position on your senior staff?"

Larson nodded knowingly and emphasized "I can't think of anyone I'd rather have on board for this role than you. There is no one else that's acquainted with as many languages as you are. Nor is there anyone who can learn a language on their own as quickly."

Hopkins looked down at her feet and thought about the Captain's offer. After thirty seconds of thinking, she asked Larson "Has Starfleet Command confirmed this?"

"They've agreed to let me offer you the position aboard the _Champion_." said Larson. "But you are the one who makes the decision. However, if you do choose to accept my offer, you will be promoted to the rank of Ensign and become a bridge officer."

Cheryl and the other two men sat in silence as they gave the linguistics expert time to ponder her options. At the bar, Paris and Ziruto had finished conducting their negotiations and were talking a little less formally with each other.

"I gotta tell ya, Tom." said Ziruto as he delivered drinks in various order to his customers. "When they instigated that 'female equality' thing in the Ferengi Alliance, I thought our entire race would fall apart. But what you see here has proven otherwise."

"I'd say so." said Tom. "I'm glad your people have finally realized the advantages to treating women like equal sentient beings and not as property."

"You know my wife and my elder daughter themselves have already accumulated enough latinum to have us set for life." said Ziruto. "My grandson is only seven, but he already has an aspiration to join Starfleet Academy."

"How does that make you feel?" Tom eagerly asked.

"Well, I have had this bar on this planet for twenty-seven years." said Ziruto. "And thanks to Starfleet officers, there has never been one major brawl in it. No table or chair has ever been deliberately knocked over, no glass or plate has been deliberately broken, and no one has gotten drunk and tried to rob or attack me. In my opinion, any organization that can keep order in a bar must be an organization worth joining. So in answer to your question, I'm going to encourage my grandson to follow his aspiration."

"An excellent decision." said Tom.

Halrinso tapped the Admiral on the shoulder. Paris turned to him and said "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Captain Larson has asked me to tell you that we are leaving." Halrinso notified him. "Miss Hopkins has made her decision."

"Good." said the Admiral. He turned to Ziruto and told him "I'll see you around, Z-ro. Thanks for the information, by the way."

"It's no problem, Tom-boy!" Ziruto called back humorously as the Admiral headed away with Lieutenant Halrinso.

As they headed for the exit, Paris asked Halrinso "So, what did she say?"

A couple hours later, most of the senior staff was on the bridge at their posts. The only members of the senior staff not on the bridge were the Captain and Lieutenant Commander Wood. Lieutenant Halrinso had been given command of the bridge temporarily.

Finally, the Commander and the Captain arrived on the bridge. Hopkins walked in behind them. Commander Wood stood off to the side and announced "Captain on the bridge!"

Everybody rose to their feet. Larson said aloud "Attention!"

Everybody turned to the back of the bridge. Hopkins was in full uniform and standing right next to Larson. Once he had gotten everyone's notice, the Captain declared "For those of you that don't know, this woman is Cheryl Hopkins. Two hours ago, I offered her the position of Communications and Linguistics Officer on the ship." Looking down at Cheryl, he finished with "She accepted my offer."

Hopkins was very grateful for her introduction to the bridge staff given by the Captain. Now she fully realized she could call him _her _Captain. She noticed that he had something in his hand. After focusing on it for a moment, she realized it was a silver pip. Larson raised his arm into the air and fastened the pip against her collar. As he did so, he told her "Crewman Hopkins, I hereby promote you to the rank of Ensign with all the responsibilities and privileges of that rank. Now please take your post. It is over there next to Lieutenant Casey."

Ensign Hopkins nodded at the Captain in response. As she walked over to her station, everyone on the bridge clapped for her. She then took her post at the communications station. She was sitting just a few feet away from Lieutenant Casey. She noticed he was staring at her. He gave her a friendly grin and congratulated her with "Well done, _Ensign_."

She responded with a friendly gesture and she said "Why, thank you, _Lieutenant_."


	8. Working Into The Group

Disclaimer: I own Crewman Waller, all the officers identified by name, and everyone I said I owned before this chapter.

Once everyone had settled back at their stations, Captain Larson said to Wood "Commander, I wish to speak to you in my ready room."

"Of course, sir." said the young Commander.

Halrinso assumed command of the bridge again as the Captain and the Commander entered the ready room. Larson sat down at his chair and Wood sat down at a chair on the other side of the desk.

"What is it you wished to discuss, sir?" asked Wood.

"Right now, we have our Communications Officer." Larson explained. "However, there is still one unresolved matter that must be addressed…"

"Let me make a prediction, sir." Wood politely interrupted. "You want to find this ship a good First Officer soon. But you want to find someone who is worthy of the position. Subsequently, you call on me, the Second Officer, to assist you in your search for promising candidates."

"You are correct, Commander." Larson confirmed Wood's assumption. "And it's not just because of your rank. It's because of your unique level of intelligence. I'm sure you would not make a mistake in a matter such as this. Also, both the Admirals are going to assist us in our search."

"Sounds like a reasonable arrangement, sir." said Wood.

"Off the top of your head, can you think of anyone who would make an ideal XO?" inquired Larson.

"Well, I do know of at least eight available officers in this sector alone with the rank of full Commander." Wood replied. "As of right now, there are approximately two hundred and sixty-seven total Commanders that are either on hold or can be replaced by someone with the rank of lieutenant commander. Or lower."

"Very good." said Larson. "Gather up all the information you can find on the available commanders and tomorrow morning, we'll begin our search."

"Why not begin now, sir?" queried Wood.

"Because the time is 2100 hours, Mr. Wood." Larson answered. "It's never wise to begin a survey of personnel at night."

"I know what you mean, sir." said Wood. "I have noticed that such actions can cause people to easily nod off."

"My point exactly, Commander." said Larson. "Dismissed."

Wood and Larson exited the ready room and Larson announced "Computer, begin night shift."

At this, the lights dimmed slightly and the people on the night shift replaced most of the officers already there. Larson went down to his quarters and changed out his uniform into his sleeping attire. After he and his wife tucked Helen and Sherman in bed, the two of them got in bed with each other. Emily noticed a certain expression on her husband's face. It was a look of bliss.

"You seem to be rather pleased, Mike." she said.

Larson turned his head to his wife and told her "We're getting closer to finally making the crew whole, Emily. Once it is whole, we'll all be a complete family."

Then the two of them went to sleep with Emily resting her head on Mike's chest.

The next morning, most of the crew was back to work and everybody was becoming more familiar with the ship and each other.

Captain Larson sat in his chair, waiting for the Admirals to show up. Commander Wood was sitting in his Second Officer's chair, preparing himself for the meeting.

Finally, Tom and B'Elanna arrived on the bridge with Miral. They had taken the time to eat a quick breakfast with their daughter than morning before they reported to the bridge. Once they had arrived, Miral took her post and the Captain and the Commander went to join the Admirals in the ready room. As he entered the ready room, he announced "Mr. Halrinso, you have the bridge."

The Bolian nodded, but kept his place at the security station. Miral noticed this and said to him "Aren't you going to sit in the Command Chair, sir?"

"I'm perfectly capable of managing the bridge from my current position, Miss Paris." was Halrinso's response. "Besides, I doubt the Captain either needs or wants someone to, quote, 'keep the chair warm for him.'"

"Aye, sir." said Miral, returning to her work.

In the ready room, Commander Wood was presenting the information he had uncovered the previous night about the available officers with the rank of Commander.

"It would appear as though the number has changed since I last looked." he was explaining to them. "There are currently two hundred seventy-four available or replaceable Commanders in Starfleet that can make ideal Executive Officers."

"Shall we start the list based on skill, on achievements, on date promoted, or alphabetically?" queried Tom.

"Let's just do random order." B'Elanna suggested. The other three decided to go along with her idea.

"Okay, first we have Commander Myron Harding." said Wood. "He is currently posted on Cestus III as a cultural observer. He has an excellent service record and never argues with his superiors."

Larson studied Wood's profile. After a while, B'Elanna said "Harding is good in his fields of study, but in terms of actual leadership, he's lacking the necessary qualities. No, I'd say we need someone other than him."

"Let's see here." Tom looked through the list. "Here we go. Commander Sharon Weir: she was recently transferred to Deep Space 4. She's participating in a seminar on diplomacy."

"Is she one of the lecturers or one of the pupils?" inquired Wood.

"The latter." Tom answered.

"Then we can cross her off the list." Larson concluded. "I need a first officer that has already covered all the lessons on diplomacy."

B'Elanna read from another profile on the list "Here is Commander Enaria Gelm. She's an unjoined Trill serving at Jupiter Station. She is a skilled scientist and biologist."

"I can see that." said Tom. "But her rate of efficiency and production is lower than the level required for this position. Moving on."

The four continued searching through the list, eliminating the candidates one at a time.

In Engineering, Lieutenant Marquez was instructing Pearson in the proper methods of preparing the plasma injectors for manual use.

"Alright, let me see if I have it here." said Pearson. "This should be the proper frequency to set the injector on."

"If you believe it's ready, then we'll put it to the test." said Marquez. He called over one of the other engineers. "Mr. Waller, would you please test this plasma injector?"

"Certainly, sir." said the crewman. He took the injector and approached the nearest transference conduit at the base of the warp core. He kneeled next to it and connected the plasma injector to it. He signaled his superiors "I'm initiating the transfer sequence."

Pearson and Marquez monitored his progress from a nearby workstation. Pearson muttered "Okay, he seems to be handling it fine so far…" then his eyes fell across an odd reading emitting from the conduit. Pointing it out to Marquez, he asked "Sir, what does this indicate?"

Marquez studied it for a moment, and all of a sudden he looked up and directed the crewman at the conduit "Waller, get away from-"

The transference conduit overloaded in front of Waller. He fell backward onto the ground and groaned. Pearson and another officer rushed to his aid. Marquez took the time to study the readings of the injector to determine the reason for the overload.

"What went wrong?" inquired Pearson as he gave Waller a helping hand.

"Here's the problem." said Marquez, discovering a discrepancy in the injector matrix. "You input the wrong categorical frequency; the last two digits are in reverse order. That's the frequency that sterilizes the plasma instead of expelling it."

"Sorry, sir." said Pearson. Marquez stepped over to him and took over giving Waller a helping hand. As he did this, he told his assistant "It's alright, Pearson. But remember: this kind of process requires exactness. You need precision, not accuracy, to be the Chief Engineer."

"Understood, sir." Pearson acknowledged.

"We'll get him to sickbay." said Marquez. "You keep working on memorizing those frequencies. Contact me if any more problems show up."

Pearson nodded. Marquez had himself and Waller beamed to sickbay.

Ensign Nobema sat in the messhall, drinking a glass of herbal tea. She was taking time to study a schematic of the ship's resources and the energy intake and was working on a way to reduce the required number of both.

She had already finished her breakfast, but she preferred doing her diagnostics of the ship's functions in the messhall.

Emily Larson entered the room and ordered breakfast from the replicator. She ordered a bowl of fruit with some bacon and eggs and some decaffeinated coffee. She looked around for the table and saw Ensign Nobema sitting alone. She walked over to her and asked her "Excuse me, Ensign, is anyone else sitting here?"

"No, Mrs. Larson."

"May I sit here?"

"Certainly." said Nobema, still focused on her schematic.

Emily sat down across from the Romulan Ensign and began eating her breakfast. She ate her breakfast slowly and carefully. Neither of them spoke for almost five minutes. At the end of five minutes, Nobema looked up at the blonde woman and asked her "Are you waiting for your husband?"

"No, he's busy with Commander Wood and the Admirals." she told Nobema. "They're conducting a survey to determine who would be the best choice for a First Officer."

"I see." said Nobema. She then went back to work on her schematic.

Emily had been meaning to speak to Nobema ever since she had shook hands with her. There had been something on her conscience from the moment they had met. She decided it was best to get it out right then on the spot. She sighed, pushed her tray to the side, and revealed her thoughts.

"Nobema, I'm sorry how I seemed to cower when I first saw you in the transporter room." she stated. "I was just a little surprised to see a Romulan onboard a Federation starship."

"It's all right, Mrs. Larson." Nobema reassured her.

"Please, just call me Emily."

"Alright, Emily." Nobema told the older woman. "You see, I'm used to dealing with other people's reactions to my presence on this side of the Neutral Zone."

"I've noticed that you don't seem to be bothered by what people think about you." Emily pointed out.

"I managed that long ago, before I entered Starfleet Academy." Nobema elucidated.

"Being the only pureblood Romulan in Starfleet must be difficult for you." Emily speculated.

"I've had my share of disadvantages." Nobema admitted. "But then again, I do have some rather pleasant advantages on my side as well. There is at least for advantage to all my disadvantages."

"Like what?" inquired Emily.

"Well, a disadvantage would be how there are several Klingons on this ship." Nobema explained. "Despite the fact that both the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon Empire were in the Federation Alliance during the Dominion War, hostilities between the two gradually returned afterwards. I know that the Klingons on this ship don't like me simply because I'm Romulan."

"What would your advantage in this situation be?" asked Emily.

"It's simple." Nobema answered. "My best friend is Miral Paris. And she's the principal reason that there are any Klingons here in the first place."

"Ah, yes." Emily realized what the young Operations Officer was referring to. "Mike told me earlier about that Kuvah'magh prophecy and how many Klingons had placed their faith in it."

Nobema nodded. Then she finished explaining her advantage: "Because Miral is my best friend, she makes sure that the other Klingons do not bother me or threaten me in any way. Naturally, they are inclined to do what she says. Even if she didn't outrank them all, they would obey her orders in this regard because of her background."

She then sighed and looked down. She included in her explanation "However, even with Miral's friendship, I still can't help but feel displaced from time to time."

Emily placed her hand on Nobema's hand. Nobema looked up at the older woman as she told her "I can promise you that you won't feel like an outsider on this ship. My husband is tolerant of everyone, and he never judges people based on their race or their personal background."

"Thank you." Nobema stated affectionately. Then she added "Emily."

Lieutenant Casey and Ensign Hopkins had been sitting at a nearby table eating their breakfast with each other. They were eavesdropping on part of the conversation between Nobema and Emily. When the conversation had ended, Hopkins whispered to Casey "Looks like they're getting along just fine."

Casey gave a nod and then the two of them resumed eating. After a minute, he said to her "So, what have you been doing on Alpha Centauri these past few weeks?"

"Not much." she answered. "Just keeping the peace and order wherever it needs to be kept. I once considered taking a position in the security division."

"I'm glad you decided to wait instead." Casey grinned.

"Yeah, I never thought you and I would be serving on the same ship." said Hopkins. "But do you think it's appropriate for us to be seeing each other with that in mind?"

"I'm sure the Captain will have no objections." was Casey's answer.

"I guess you're right." Hopkins agreed. The two of them finished their breakfast without another word after that.

In sickbay, Dr. Keller was treating Crewman Waller for first-degree plasma burns. At the same time, Lieutenant Marquez was explaining the incident to Dr. Rizux.

"So Pearson simply entered the wrong frequency into the injector?" said Rizux when Marquez was finished explaining.

"Yeah, and the two of them did not go hand in hand with each other." Marquez confirmed. "It caused a minor overload. Is he going to be alright, Dr. Keller?"

"Yes, Mr. Waller will be fine, Lieutenant." replied the holographic physician as he used a dermal regenerator on Waller's face. "He's my first patient on this ship, you know."

"Great." said Waller sarcastically yet humorously. "That means I'm the first person to go on the wounded list. Just how I wanted to be distinguished onboard the ship."

"The organic need for sarcasm strikes me as rather inconvenient." said Keller as he continued to heal Waller's face. "Besides, this isn't a serious wound, Crewman. It would have healed quickly on its own."

"Well, thank you for that, Doctor." said Waller.

Marquez just sighed and folded his arms, staring at the wall. Dr. Rizux asked him "Is everything alright, Lieutenant?"

"This is the fourth mistake Pearson has made," Marquez informed the Crenaran doctor, "and I don't think it will be the last. It may not even be the last in this week alone. I've almost started wondering if he actually is ready to handle the responsibilities of Chief Engineer on this ship."

While filing a report into the medical database, Rizux said to Marquez "That sounds like just one more reason why you should stay on the _Champion_, sir."

"I assume that the Captain has enlightened the entire senior staff about the offer he made me?" Marquez presumed.

"Your assumption is correct, Lieutenant." Rizux confirmed. "He told us about it shortly before you arrived in the briefing room at Utopia Planitia."

"Did he also tell you my reasons for not feeling entirely comfortable with it?" asked the engineer.

Rizux nodded. "Quite frankly, I believe you should give serving on a starship a second chance."

"Doctor, I don't think I would be able to convince myself that my daughter will be safe aboard a starship after what happened to her mother on the _Circinus_." Marquez stated straight out.

"I completely understand your concerns, Lieutenant." said Rizux. "I myself have a wife… and three children. The oldest is thirteen years old. They're four of this crew's civilian population. Before this ship, they have always travelled with me."

"Have you always felt at peace with them accompanying you while, at the same time, you know that there is plenty of danger waiting to spark out there?" asked Marquez.

"Yes, I have always felt so." Rizux answered. "My people view family as one of the greatest advantages for virtually everything in life. I'm glad to see that you take that philosophy into heart as well."

"Thank you, Doctor." said the engineer.

"However, you must remember that there is more in your life than family bonds." said Rizux. "You must also focus on organizing your life properly. For instance, you- and I mean you specifically, Lieutenant- may find that you have been missing something in your life for the past few years. Perhaps that 'something' can be found if you give serving on a starship a second chance."

"I would have to agree with Dr. Rizux." Dr. Keller said from across the room as he finished treating the wound on Waller's face. "While I, being a hologram, may personally know little about family, I am well-versed in duty and responsibility. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that you actually do wish to be on a starship, Mr. Marquez; you simply do not wish to embrace that idea. But no matter how much you try to convince yourself you do not belong here, practicality suggests that you do."

"Mr. Waller, did you and Mr. Pearson plan this?" Marquez asked the crewman sitting on the bio-bed.

"Sir?" said the confused crewman.

"Did he deliberately input the wrong frequency into that plasma injector so that there would be an overload in which you would get injured?" said Marquez. "If that was the general plan, I suppose that after I took you to sickbay, Doctors Keller and Rizux would contribute their thoughts on the offer Captain Larson gave me in effort to influence my decision."

Waller chuckled and replied "No, sir. My injury really was an accident, and Pearson did enter the wrong frequency into the injector by mistake. Don't forget, he wasn't the one that asked me to test that injector; you were. Though I must admit, that would be a very cunning strategy."

Lightheartedly rolling his eyes and folding his arms, Marquez said "I would have to agree with you there."

Back in the ready room, Larson, Wood, Tom, and B'Elanna were down to twelve nominees. Larson's eyes fell on one name on the list. He studied the profile by himself, and then said "I'll put this one to the side. We may have one promising candidate."

After he did this, they looking through the last eleven profiles. After about twenty minutes, they had eliminated all of them.

"Well, I guess that leaves just one person left." Wood assumed.

"You are correct, Mr. Wood." said Larson. Handing Tom a PADD he had uploaded the remaining profile to, he told them "I have made my decision."

Tom examined the profile and B'Elanna looked over his shoulder. As soon as he saw the name of the person, he looked up at Larson and said very earnestly "Mike, I hope you're joking."

"I am not." Larson replied almost immediately, having anticipated Tom's reaction. "I am dead serious about this, Tom."

"Surely there is somebody else you had in mind." B'Elanna theorized.

"Nope." Larson spoke with indifference. "I predicted you would react like this, but I don't feel as you do about what I am suggesting. **She** is my choice for XO. I'll announce it at the senior staff meeting this afternoon. Until then, I do not want either of you trying to change my mind."

Tom and B'Elanna reluctantly agreed. Wood, however, was more than just willing to go along with the Captain's decision. Larson dismissed the three of them and they all went out to the bridge. Larson and Wood took their seats and took over management of the bridge. The two Admirals stepped into the turbolift and departed the bridge.

As the lift descended, B'Elanna asked her husband "What do you think about Mike's choice?"

Tom just looked at his wife and answered her question with "I think that he probably could have found someone better for Executive Officer than Ashley Sanderson."


	9. A Chance Of Redemption

Disclaimer: I own the character of Lieutenant Hale and the planet Kinnalia V.

A few hours later, Captain Larson had the senior staff assemble in the briefing room once again. Ensign Hopkins had taken her place in the Communications Officer chair in between Nobema and Casey. At that moment, she was just pleased that whoever had made the seating arrangements had decided to put the Communications Officer chair next to the Chief Conn Officer chair. The feeling was mutual for Casey. However, both of them made sure to pay their close attention to Captain Larson and not to each other.

The entire seating arrangement was the same as it had been before, except that Marquez and Pearson had switched places in the vacant chair and the Chief Engineer chair. Other than that, the seating arrangement was exactly the same.

Captain Larson looked around at his senior staff and told them "As some of you may already know, I have called you here because I have made my choice for the Executive Officer. However, I know that some of you may have very skeptical views about my choice."

Larson stood up and went over to the panel on the wall. Everybody on the left side of the table turned their chairs to watch the panel and see what the Captain would bring up.

Then he brought up the profile of the person he had selected and, as he connected his hands behind his back, announced "My choice for XO is Commander Ashley Sanderson."

Lieutenant Halrinso brought a look of doubt on his face. Dr. Keller looked at Larson as if he was pulling a cruel prank on them. Dr. Rizux could only raise an eyebrow at Larson for his decision. Tom and B'Elanna were still sitting in disbelief, but their daughter actually seemed to be interested by Larson's choice. Marquez and Pearson had not decided their feelings about the Captain's selection yet. Casey, Hopkins, Nobema, and Wood were too busy wondering about the reasons for everyone else's odd reactions to give their own.

"Captain, I know that Humans have a habit of bringing in humor in the most awkward instances," said Halrinso, "but with all due respect, do you not think that this is a little… extravagant?"

Larson glared at Halrinso. Then he sternly asked him "Is that what this is to you, Lieutenant? A joke?"

Halrinso then realized that Larson was not joking, and that he was, in actuality, very serious. He nervously responded "Umm, no sir. This is your choice. I am merely voicing my opinion."

"That's partially why I called this meeting." said Larson. "Anyone who does not feel comfortable about this, I want you to let out your 'opinions' here. After this meeting, I don't want to hear any more disapproval about my selection for XO."

The people who were discontented about that decision wasted no time in voicing their thoughts. Dr. Rizux and Dr. Keller merely disagreed a little with Larson's decision. Both of them ended up being convinced by the Captain that he knew what he was doing. Marquez and Pearson came to the same decision as the one the doctors had come to. But Tom and B'Elanna did more than voice their disapproval.

"I just have one question." said B'Elanna. "WHY?"

"Commander Sanderson has all the necessary requirements of an superlative First Officer." Larson replied calmly and with indifference.

"And not one of the other two hundred and seventy-three people on that list did?" said Tom.

"Actually, several of them did." said Larson. "But all of them were either too amateur or too inexperienced. Commander Sanderson is neither of those."

"Surely there was someone you found that did not have a large mark on their service record." said B'Elanna.

"I knew you would approach this without subtly." said Larson. "You see, I believe in a chance of redemption. Commander Sanderson will be able to redeem herself after that incident that happened over a decade ago. Besides, there is nothing else on her permanent record; not even a reprimand for tardiness."

"Mike, she spent ten months in prison!" Tom told the younger officer as if he had not realized that fact.

"You think **you **have the right to criticize her for that?" Larson retorted angrily.

Everyone in that room gasped at the Captain's comment. He had never talked back that way to Tom before, but then again, Tom had never been such a stubborn fool before either.

"Who was it that was sentenced to many months in prison for joining the Maquis?" Larson remarked sarcastically, almost disdainfully. "I believe it was **you**, Tom. And yet you redeemed yourself when you were reinstated due to extraordinary circumstances. After many years of work, you achieved the rank of Fleet Admiral- the highest rank in all of Starfleet. A rank which some of the greatest Starfleet officers in history- i.e. Owen Paris, Kathryn Janeway, Benjamin Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard, and even James T. Kirk himself- never acquired. The farthest any of them ever got was Admiral. Not only have you acquired this rank, but you have gained the respect of countless Starfleet officers, including me."

There was complete and utter silence in the room. In the end, Larson just sat down and said to everyone in the room "I'm offering this position to Commander Sanderson regardless of your disapproval. If any of you has any objection to this, you are free to file a complaint. But I will not listen to you if you come to me to protest directly."

After a few more moments of silence, Larson informed his crew "Commander Sanderson is currently posted on Kinnalia V. Mr. Casey, I want you to plot a course for that planet as soon as you return to your post. But do not engage it until I have given the order."

"Aye, sir." Casey understood.

"Dismissed." said Larson to everyone at once.

All the members of his crew and Lieutenant Marquez left to return to their stations. But Larson remained behind in his chair. Tom and B'Elanna had also lingered. Larson just leaned back in his chair, connected his fingertips on both his hands together, and said "I predicted you two would stay behind."

Tom began with "That was rather… rather uncharacteristic of you to openly oppose me like that, Mike."

"Tom, don't worry." Larson assured him. "You don't have to lecture me about the concept of rank. I know how the chain of command works. But on a starship, deciding the crew is always the captain's prerogative. Therefore, I have the last word."

"I'm still curious." said B'Elanna. "Is there another reason for why you want Commander Sanderson on board?"

"What do you say that?" queried Larson.

"Well, forgive me for saying so, Mike," said Tom, "but it seems as if there is something specific about Commander Sanderson that you find makes her unique. Unique enough to make her your choice."

The Captain thought about what Tom was implying, but ended up interpreting it in the wrong manner. He just chuckled and said "Tom, in case you have forgotten, I am a married man with children."

Both the Admirals were confused by what Larson was saying, but once they realized what he was saying, they burst out laughing. They just chortled for twenty seconds without pause. When they finished their long bout of laughter, they got serious again and Tom said "N-no, Mike. That's not what I meant. What I mean was… well, it's kind of hard to ask it straightforwardly."

"There's no need for that, Tom." said Larson. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing. You won't regret my decision."

"We honestly hope you're right." B'Elanna told the Captain. "Both of us do."

"And who knows?" Tom added to the conversation. "We just may end up respecting Commander Sanderson in the same way. Even after she spent all those months in that holding cell for that one disastrous episode with the Cardassians and the Breen, she just may regain the respect she had before."

"I myself always opposed Starfleet's decision about her sentence." Larson told the Admirals. "I mean, it just involved the Cardassians and the Breen. Who would care about what went on with two warlike races that had always been rivals of the Federation?"

"Twenty to thirty years ago, B'Elanna and I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you." Tom assured the young Captain. "But when we were on our way to admiralty, we had to leave behind our contempt of the Cardassians. It wasn't easy for either of us-"

"I'll say." B'Elanna interrupted, rolling her eyes in a drolly fashion. "It took me a few more years than Tom. That's probably why he outranks me by three grades. Not that I ever really cared that much about rank, mind you."

"Of course." said Tom, looking at her for a brief moment then back at Larson. He finished "As I was saying, it wasn't easy for either of us, but we managed to set aside our bigotry against the Cardassians and the Breen."

"I have done the same." Larson told them as he stood up and walked around the table. "And I'm sure Commander Sanderson has too. I'll contact her and offer her the position."

Tom and B'Elanna agreed to his plan. Then the three of them walked out to the bridge.

"Should I engage the course you set, Captain?" inquired Casey.

"Not yet, Lieutenant." was Larson's reply. He then ordered his communications officer "Ensign Hopkins, please join me in my ready room."

"Yes, sir." said the young ensign. She got up, and walked across the room as somebody took over her station for her. Then she followed Captain Larson into his ready room.

The Captain sat his desk and pulled up a chair up to the side of it, gesturing to Hopkins to sit down. After she did sit down, she asked "What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Captain?"

He turned the computer console on his desk toward her and instructed her "I want you to open up a secure channel to Kinnalia V."

Hopkins was a little confused by the Captain's simple request. She politely asked him "Couldn't you have done that on your own, sir?"

"Of course I could have, Cheryl." he reassured her. Then he joked "I'm just making sure that ten weeks of breaking up bar fights haven't compromised your skills that employ security."

She chuckled and said "Alright, sir." She leaned slightly forward up to the monitor and went to work. As she typed in the security codes, she thought aloud "I assume you want the line sent directly to Commander Sanderson's room?"

"You know it." Larson nodded as the skilled ensign continued to input the codes into the computer.

On Kinnalia V, Commander Ashley Sanderson herself was returning to her quarters. Her assignment on that planet was a particularly monotonous one: she was leading a team of scientists and psychiatrists to study the effects of mining dilithium in isolation, both the long-term and the short-term ones.

She removed her uniform jacket and placed it down on her bed, and then she took a moment to stretch, relieving herself of the difficulties from that day. Just a month earlier she had been promoted to Commander; she had hoped that she would be doing something more productive than this assignment. But she never complained or protested. She knew better than to do that, as the last and only time she had ever disobeyed orders had resulted in the ten most… "unproductive" months of her life.

She was about to step into the sonic shower when her combadge beeped.

"Hale to Commander Sanderson." said a female voice over the comline.

Sanderson tapped her combadge on her uniform shirt and stated "Sanderson here. What is it, Lieutenant?"

"There's a person-to-person message for you coming in from the USS _Champion_, Commander." Hale reported.

"Who's it from?"

"Apparently, it's from Captain Larson himself."

"Wonderful." commented the Commander. She then went to her comfortable chair at her desk and sat down in it. After getting herself settled, she activated the panel on her desk and said over the comline "Put the message through to my personal uplink console."

"Yes, ma'am."

After fixing her hair, she activated the monitor. There sat Captain Larson on the other end. Attempting a smile, she said "Good evening, Captain Larson."

"Good evening, Commander." Larson returned. "Thank you for taking my message."

"It's always nice to talk to someone who is off Kinnalia." said Sanderson. "It reminds us that Starfleet knows we still exist."

"Is that a joke or a serious statement?" inquired Larson.

Sanderson shrugged and said "You may decide for yourself, sir."

"I'll say it's a joke." Larson commented.

Putting her hands together and leaning forward a bit, she asked "May I ask as to why you contacted me, sir?"

"Well, as you know, the _Champion _has just ferried out of the Utopia Planitia Shipyards." Larson explained. "However, the crew is still a little disorganized."

"I'm afraid there's not much that a group of scientists, psychiatrists, and miners could do to help you with your dilemma, sir." Sanderson told him.

"I'm not calling because I need them for something." said Larson. "I'm calling because I need you and you alone for something."

"I'm listening." she said.

"Well, when I said my crew is a little disorganized, I meant it." said Larson. "We don't even have a full senior staff yet."

"What would you like me to do?" asked Sanderson.

"You see, I still need a Chief Engineer and a First Officer." Larson elucidated her. "I plan to have the Chief Engineer matter resolved soon enough, but we're continued to look for an XO. However, I have selected a first choice."

Commander Sanderson was apprehensive as to what the Captain was connoting. She asked him "Captain, what are you implying?"

Larson just smiled, connected his fingers together, and answered her: "I'm offering you the position of Executive Officer on the _Champion_."

Sanderson was almost too stunned to speak. After she had grasped the concept she had just heard, she asked him "Why me, sir?"

Larson shrugged and told her "You're service record precedes you. According to your personnel profile, you have all the qualifications of an ideal First Officer: you're diligent, courteous, unwavering, efficient, and you always cooperate with others."

"Thank you, sir." said the Commander. "It means a lot to hear you acknowledge my feats, but I'm not so sure how Starfleet Command would view my presence on your ship."

"In that case, I'll offer you a compromise." Larson told her. "We'll be arriving in about a day. Come aboard the _Champion_ when we arrive. You will be my Acting Executive Officer. We'll be setting off on our first assignment after we pick you up. When the mission is over, you can decide for yourself if you want to remain onboard. I can convince Starfleet Command to go through with it all."

Sanderson sat in her chair thinking for a long time. Finally, she gave Larson her response: "You've got yourself a compromise, Captain."

"Good." said Larson with a wide beam on his face. "Then I'll see you tomorrow. Larson out."

The screen went blank. Sanderson deactivated the panel. Then she sat back in her chair and sat thinking. She was still trying to grasp the concept that she was being offered a position in the senior staff of a starship. And a prototype starship, no less!

It all seemed too good to be true for Ashley Sanderson. Even so, in addition to being excited, she was somewhat nervous. She wondered how the crew of the _Champion _would feel about having somebody who spent ten months in prison on board. Moreover, how would Starfleet Command react to Captain Larson's request? She wondered if Starfleet Command would even consider Larson's appeal. In the back of the mind, she had a feeling she would not be getting off Kinnalia until the survey was over.

But all the same, Sanderson decided it would be better to have optimistic thoughts than to predict a negative outcome. She got out of her chair and went to go pack up her personal possessions.


	10. A Choice Between Duty And Morality

Disclaimer: I own the Qurunians.

Back in the ready room of the _Champion_, Captain Larson had deactivated his panel and moved it to the side. Then he took a moment to look at Ensign Hopkins.

Having a realization, she asked him "Captain, you didn't ask me in here just to test my ability to open up a secure line, did you?"

"No, I did not." he admitted. "I just felt that you and I had a bit of catching up to do. We haven't spoken since that time I paid a visit to your class at the Academy last year."

"Not much has been going on since I graduated." she began. "My work on Alpha Centauri has been most uneventful. But I managed to keep Ziruto's and a few other places in balance while I was there."

"And now you get to do something far more exciting than that." said Larson. "When we make first contact with any new species, you'll be the first one to saw 'Hello' in their language."

Hopkins said "That does sound a lot more exciting than Alpha Centauri. However, Captain, when you told me I was one of the most talented translators you ever saw, I had no idea you were impressed enough to make me your linguistics expert."

Larson shrugged and said "From what you demonstrated, I believed you would be able to have a conversation with a cat or a dog by now."

"I thought of trying that." she told him seriously. "You'd think by now the universal translator could work on them."

"Compared to many other species we have encountered, dogs and cats are still very mysterious organisms to us." Larson pointed out. "Even though they've been on Earth for almost as long as we have, you never really know a lifeform until you can speak to them face-to-face."

"I can relate with you there, sir." Hopkins concurred. "Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." Larson replied. "I would also like to know of the nature of your friendship with Lieutenant Casey. It is just friendship, correct?"

"Yes, Nick and I are just friends, sir." she assured him. "Our relationship won't interfere with our duties on the bridge or the rest of the ship."

"I believe you." said Larson. "I know that you have no trouble keeping your priorities in order. However, I would like to know- and forgive me for intruding on your personal life- were you and the Lieutenant ever more than 'just friends'?"

"You are well within your rights to ask that question, sir." Hopkins understood. "And yes, we were more than 'just friends' for the second half of the term when we were both at the Academy. In fact, I'm thinking of pursuing that relationship with him again. That is, if it is alright with you, sir."

"Ensign, you don't need my permission to revive the relationship you shared with Lieutenant Casey before he graduated." Larson assured her.

The two of them stood up and left the ready room.

Hopkins went to her station and took her seat. As Larson walked to his chair, he said "Mr. Casey, pull us out of orbit."

A few adjustments were made here and there, and Casey declared "We're out of orbit."

"Good. Now enter that course for Kinnalia V into the helm." Larson ordered him.

"I already have, sir." the Flight Controller reported.

Larson sat down in his chair and said "Engage."

The _Champion _veered to the direction of Kinnalia V and cruised en route for the planet at Warp 8.

Larson turned to his Second Officer and asked him "Patrick, would you care to estimate you long it will take us to arrive there?"

"I'd love to, sir," responded the young Lieutenant Commander, "but I've never seen the Kinnalia planets on a starchart before. Do you suppose you could bring one up for me?"

There was a computer console set in-between the Captain's chair and the Second Officer's chair, and another one in-between the Captain's chair and the First Officer's chair. Larson activated the former of the two consoles and brought up a starchart that had both Alpha Centauri and Kinnalia V on it. After taking a moment to study the chart, Wood asked "How precise would you like to know, sir?"

"Do it down to the minute." Larson suggested.

"Okay." said Wood. "In that case, I believe it would take one day, four hours, and twenty-seven minutes at our current velocity."

"Alright, then we have forty hours to get ready for our first assignment." Larson concluded. He explained to Wood "Tom told me that we would be going on our first mission as soon as we had a full senior staff."

"I see, sir." said Wood. "I look forward to it."

In sickbay, Dr. Rizux was documenting an interesting plant specimen he had come across before he had arrived on the _Champion_. Dr. Keller was taking the time to take a reading of the specimen's vitals.

"You'll be pleased to know that your plant is very healthy, Dr. Rizux." Keller announced to the Crenaran scientist.

"Thank you for letting me know, Dr. Keller." Rizux expressed his appreciation toward the holographic physician.

Keller noticed that Rizux had something on his mind other than the plant. He decided to ask him what he was thinking about. Rizux's response was "I'm curious about the Captain's choice for the First Officer. Why would he want someone with such a major mark on her permanent record being on this ship as a subordinate to him alone?"

"I'm more curious about why he seems so determined to have her as his XO." Keller revealed.

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Rizux speculated. "By the way, I noticed you, too, voiced a little disapproval about his selection. Where did you ever hear of Commander Sanderson and her past?"

"The incident she was sentenced for is in the ship's database." Keller answered. "In addition to the experiences of hundreds of physicians and medical procedures, my memory is composed of everything in the ship's archives."

"I would predict that you are programmed to be as loyal to duty and protocol as any other Starfleet officer." Rizux theorized. "Therefore, it would make sense why you would have some displeasure about the Captain's decision.

"You are correct, Doctor." said Keller. "You took the words right out of my mouth. I **am** as dedicated to Starfleet principles as any organic officer is. However, I believe I can come to accept Commander Sanderson."

"I believe I can manage that just as well." said Rizux.

The two of them soon dropped this subject and returned to studying the planet specimen.

A few decks below, Miral and Nobema were walking down the corridor. Then were about to turn in for the night. While they walked, Nobema asked her best friend "Do you know anything about Commander Sanderson?"

"Not much, except that she was involved in something that involved the Cardassians and the Breen." Miral answered. "And she spent ten months in a Federation holding cell for it."

"I noticed that you don't share your parents' dissatisfaction with Captain Larson's pick." Nobema noted.

"In my opinion, they are both being hypocritical." Miral explained. "My father was thrown out of Starfleet for falsifying reports, and my mother was expelled from the Academy for failing to abide by the rules of conduct. But their time on the _Voyager _was essentially a chance of redemption for both of them. They were both reinstated when the _Voyager_ got home, and after an awards ceremony a week later, my mother received a commission of full Lieutenant, and my father was promoted to Lieutenant Commander."

Nobema then developed a hypothesis: "Maybe that's why the Captain wants Commander Sanderson on board. In addition to her experiences, it could be that he wants to give her a chance of redemption."

"That sounds like a reasonable assumption." Miral agreed. "But why would the Captain take such a thing like that so seriously?"

"I don't know." said Nobema. "Perhaps he'll tell us in time."

"Perhaps." Miral agreed.

The two of them made their way to their quarters. Everyone on that ship slept soundly that night as the ship cruised to Kinnalia V.

Almost forty hours later, Commander Sanderson was leaving her room in the mines of Kinnalia. She took a moment to look back once and reflect on the past three weeks she had spent there. She had been stuck leading a team to conduct research on the psychological effects of isolated dilithium mining. Now she was being offered a position on a starship by Michael Larson himself. She had only known him by his reputation of being very understanding and patient, and how he had overseen the admission of two new planets into the Federation.

All of a sudden, her combadge beeped. "Hale to Commander Sanderson." came from it.

Sanderson tapped her badge and said "Sanderson here."

"The _Champion _is in orbit, ma'am."

Sanderson turned and left the room behind for good.

On the _Champion_, Captain Larson was in Transporter Room 1. Ensign Nobema was at the panel and Dr. Keller and Lieutenant Commander Wood were standing behind him. A few moments later, Nobema announced "Captain, we are receiving a transmission from the planet. Commander Sanderson is standing by."

"Then by all means, bring her aboard, Ensign." said Larson.

Nobema nodded and went to work on the transporter. A moment later, a flash of blue light appeared and Commander Sanderson materialized onto the platform. Captain Larson looked at her and said cordially "Welcome aboard."

As she stepped off the platform, Captain Larson held out his hand to her. She looked down at his hand, and then she took it in hers and shook it firmly. Then she took two computer chips out of her pocket. One of them she gave to Larson while saying "Commander Ashley Sanderson reporting as ordered, sir. I am glad to be aboard."

Larson nodded. Then he introduced the two men behind him: "This is my Second Officer, Lieutenant Commander Patrick Wood and our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Keller."

Sanderson gave Keller the other chip, which contained her medical profile, and shook his hand and Wood's hand. Larson then moved back to the transporter panel and said "And this is our Operations Officer and Transporter Chief, Ensign Nobema."

Nobema and Sanderson shook hands. After they had, Larson asked "Shall we proceed to the bridge?"

"Of course, Captain." was Sanderson's reply. "But I'll need to place my bags in my room first."

"That's all right." Larson told her. "Place them back on the transporter. Nobema, beam the Commander's luggage to her quarters."

After this process was done, the five members of the senior staff in that room made their way to the bridge.

When they got to the bridge, Larson introduced Sanderson to Halrinso, Casey, Hopkins, Miral Paris, Marquez, and Rizux. Every one of them except Halrinso gave her a friendly handshake. Halrinso gave her a "friendly" handshake and an unreceptive glare. But she was used to that kind of glare. Larson had convinced Tom and B'Elanna to be affable when they met her. They had decided that Larson was right about getting to know the Commander instead of simply judging her based on her permanent record.

Soon, everyone had taken their seats except for Commander Sanderson. Larson held his hand over it and told her "It's yours."

She slowly approached it and sat down. Once she had gotten settled, Larson said "Mr. Casey, set a course for Ferengi space and engage at Warp 9."

"Ferengi space, sir?" said the confused helmsman.

"According to Fleet Admiral Paris, the location of our first assignment is just beyond their borders." Larson explained.

"Very well, sir." Casey input the course and the _Champion _headed for Ferengi territory.

Later in the mess hall, Commander Sanderson was eating lunch by her own in the mess hall. A few people had given her an unfriendly glare in that room, but most of them had been more accepting of her.

When she had just finished eating, Commander Wood and Ensign Nobema came into the room. They wanted to talk to the Commander and get to know her better. They approached her and asked if they could join her. She let them sit down with her. They quickly got into a conversation.

"So, you're the first Romulan in Starfleet?" she asked Nobema.

"That's correct, Commander." Nobema confirmed.

"And what about you, Mr. Wood?" she asked the Second Officer. "You graduated after just your second term?"

"The Federation Council saw it appropriate." he told her.

Casey and Hopkins had been sitting at the next table eating their own lunch. They had been listening to the conversation, and they decided to ask Sanderson something they had wanted to ask her ever since the last senior staff meeting. They turned to her and Hopkins said "Commander, there is something we would like to know."

"What would you like to know?" asked Sanderson.

Casey and Hopkins briefly looked at each other, and when they looked back at her, Casey said "Why were you sentenced to ten months in prison in the first place?"

"You mean neither of you know why?" asked the Commander.

Both of them shook their heads. Neither Wood nor Nobema knew the reasons either.

Commander Sanderson sighed, but she did know that someone would have approached her eventually about this subject. She decided to just get it over with. She sat up and she began explaining her story to the young officers. She told them: "It was eleven years ago when I was serving aboard the USS _Gainesville_. I had the rank of full Lieutenant at the time. We were on a deep space mission beyond the wormhole that leads to the Gamma Quadrant. Soon, we made first contact with a technologically advanced species known as the Qurunians. They are a remarkably intelligent species, and they are centered so much around peace that they almost make the Federation look as untrustworthy and violent as the Remans by comparison."

Ensign Hopkins raised one of her eyebrows, indicating that she was clearly interested in that fact about the Qurunians. Commander Sanderson continued: "They extended their cordial hand to the crew of the _Gainesville _and allowed us to observe their technology. Captain Ewotto actually offered them for a few of them to come back with us to Starfleet Command. He believed that they would make a great addition to the Federation. But the Qurunians politely declined. They told us how they never join any sort of interstellar organization because of some fear they have. It's essentially a fear of power- they worry that too much power and authority would cause their people to become corrupt in time."

"A very interesting theory." said Casey. "Have they ever actually joined any form of association?"

"Not to my knowledge." replied Sanderson. "You see, they are a something of a spectator species. They watch other species and learn from their actions how they should progress or how they should not progress."

"Please, go on." Wood requested.

Sanderson continued: "After we left Qurunian space, we reported our findings to the Federation Council. However, news of their existence and achievements quickly spread throughout the Quadrant. The two that were most interested in their technological advancements were the Cardassians and the Breen. Pretty soon afterward, there were reports that the two races were planning to revive their old alliance from the Dominion War and attack the Qurunians. Their goal would have been to enslave them and force them to make more technology for the Cardassian Alliance and the Breen Confederacy."

"What happened next?" asked Nobema

"These reports of the coalition were confirmed a few weeks later." Sanderson explained. "The Qurunians were becoming desperate then. They pleaded for the Federation to give them assistance, but the Federation Council said that the Prime Directive prohibited us from getting involved in these affairs. I was disgusted, but everyone had been ordered not to get involved in this matter. The Qurunians actually understood our principles, and submitted that they would never allow the Cardassians and the Breen to use them to make weapons and warships. They proclaimed that they would all die before they allowed their technology to be used for violent means."

"A noble people." Wood noted. "What happened after this?"

"Well, you see, the Qurunians were one of the most impressive species I had ever seen." Sanderson told the young officers. "I could not let them become enslaved and exploited by two of this quadrant's most violent and destructive races. I decided that even if no one else in the Federation would do anything, I would do something about it."

"What did you do?" asked Nobema.

Sanderson went on: "By that time, I already had about a month's worth of shore leave accumulated. I told Captain Ewotto that I would be taking about two week's worth shortly after news of the Cardassian-Breen alliance leaked out. He accepted my request and I went on vacation. But you see, I did not have your typical vacation. Instead of travelling to Risa or another ideal vacation spot, I took my shuttle near the borders of the Cardassian Alliance and the Breen Confederacy. I spent the first week of my 'vacation' intercepting messages sent from the Breen to the Cardassians and the Cardassians to the Breen. After I intercepted them, I would encrypt the message in a type of code that had no syntax whatsoever, and then I would see to it that the messages reached their intended destinations. The indecipherable messages had the Cardassians and the Breen distracted. While they were busy with that, I spent the other week leaking just enough information about Breen and Cardassian weaponry to the Qurunians so that they would be able to defend themselves from both races combined. You see, the Qurunians possess no weapons at all; what I gave them would help them fend off their two greatest threats. Before anyone could even threaten them, the Qurunians were already fully ready to fend both of the hostile species off."

"I'd imagine that they called off the attacks pretty quickly?" assumed Casey.

"They did." said Sanderson. "Shortly after I returned to the _Gainesville_, there were reports that the Cardassians and the Breen were at each other's throats. Apparently my encoded messages had done more damage than I had hoped for. Both races had believed that the other had given the Qurunians the information regarding the weaponry and created a covert alliance with them. Within a week afterwards, they were almost ready to go to war with each other."

"Oh my God." said Hopkins.

"Starfleet Intelligence had determined that it was a Starfleet officer that had sabotaged their messages and provided the Qurunians with tactical information about Breen and Cardassian weapons." Sanderson went on. "I knew it would only be a matter of time until they discovered who, so I finally admitted what I had done to Captain Ewotto. Next thing I knew, I was being court-martialed. The Federation Court knew I had done it so save the Qurunians. You see, there are more Qurunians than there are Cardassians and Breen combined. But I had almost started a war between the Breen and the Cardassians. Even though they had resolved the conflict before they went to war, the Federation Court wanted me to take some time to ponder on how things could have turned out differently. So they gave me that time: ten months in a holding cell. And before that incident, I did not have a single reprimand on my permanent record."

"How is it you managed to stay in Starfleet afterwards?" inquired Casey.

"Well, during my sentence, the Federation Council took time to think about the morality of my actions." Sanderson told him. "They realized that I only did what I did to save a civilization that was doomed to choose between enslavement and annihilation. Just before my sentence was finished, they had decided to reinstate me. But I was stripped of my rank and given a formal reprimand. It's taken me this long to achieve the rank of Commander."

Casey, Nobema, Wood, and Hopkins were shocked. Quite frankly, none of them liked the Cardassians or the Breen at all. Sanderson just looked around at them and asked them "Are you four still comfortable with the idea of having me as your First Officer?"

"Absolutely." answered Hopkins. "I'm sure I can speak for all four of us when I say that."

"I won't treat you any differently, ma'am." Wood guaranteed the Commander.

"You still have my respect, Commander." said Casey.

"What you did was noble." Nobema asserted her. "You risked everything to save a whole civilization."

"And just out of curiosity, Commander," said Hopkins, "Do you have any regrets about what you did?"

Sanderson shook her head and told them "Ten months in prison and my spotless Starfleet reputation were a small price to pay for the safety and survival of an entire race." Right after she said that, she stood up, picked up her tray, placed it on the counter, and left the mess hall. Nobema, Hopkins, Casey, and Wood just watched her as she left. Now they knew the Commander's story. All four of them still held out hope that she would accept Captain Larson's offer.


	11. The First Assignment

Note: I own the USS _Dionysius _and the Yellowstone-class runabout mentioned in this chapter.

A few hours later, the entire senior staff, as well as both of the Admirals, had assembled once again in the briefing room. Commander Sanderson was sitting in the XO's chair in-between Captain Larson and Miral. Everyone else was sitting in their assigned places.

Once everybody had settled in, Larson put his hands together, sat up, and began to enlighten them on what they would be doing next: "Now that we have a complete senior staff- for the moment, at least- I believe that now is an appropriate time to address this ship's first assignment.

He glanced at his Security Chief and cued him "Mr. Halrinso, if you please?"

Halrinso got up and walked to the large monitor on the wall. He activated the terminal and a picture of a Miranda-class starship appeared. He explained to the others "Eleven days ago, the USS _Dionysius _disappeared in a vastly unexplored region of space. Her crew was conducting a type of deep-space survey. They had been transmitting data on their findings when the Argus Array abruptly lost contact with them. They haven't been heard from since that time. Starfleet Command has given us orders to locate the ship… and discover what's become of her crew."

"What were their last known coordinates?" inquired Commander Sanderson.

"They were behind the borders of the Ferengi Alliance." Halrinso answered. "It was about 23 light years beyond their farthest border. The Ferengi know little about the region of space the _Dionysius _went missing in, except that they've had it quarantined for centuries."

"Why's that?" asked Ensign Hopkins.

"Ziruto told me about that region when we were on Alpha Centauri." Tom Paris explained. "Apparently, around 300 years ago, a few of their starships ventured into that region in search of new species to conduct business with- more appropriately, ones they could exploit. None of their ships ever returned."

"Has Starfleet Command provided us with any more information about that region of space?" inquired Nobema.

"Nothing except that we must proceed with caution." Halrinso answered.

"Wonderful." said Casey sarcastically. "So we're going in there blind and unaware of the regions of space around us? At the same time, we'll be opening ourselves up to an unknown number- possibly a myriad- of threats. Is that basically what you're telling us?"

"That is a crude but accurate assessment, Mr. Casey." said Dr. Keller.

"Thank you for that, Doctor." said the Flight Controller.

"Look at it this way, Lieutenant." said Wood. "We're facing the unknown. We could end up discovering a new type of anomaly. We may even make first contact on our first assignment."

"Whatever you say, **Commander**." said Casey, with an unpleasant emphasis on the last word. Larson noticed that Casey and Wood were avoiding direct eye contact with each other. He was unsure what that meant, but decided that he would get down to the bottom of that later.

Looking around at his senior staff, he told them "We'll be rendezvousing with a Ferengi freighter, the _Beraalam_, when we reach the edge of Ferengi space. They've agreed to provide us with all the data they do have on the region we'll be exploring."

"What will they ask for in return?" inquired Rizux.

"Nothing." Larson answered. A few of the older members of the senior staff were surprised to hear the Captain's answer. He explained to them "They are giving us the information at no charge as a gesture of goodwill. As some of you may know, the Ferengi Alliance owes us many favors for our role in reorganizing their male-dominant society to embrace feminism."

"So now we're using favors as currency with them?" assumed Nobema.

"That's an accurate way of putting it, Ensign." Larson agreed. "We're about two days from the Ferengi Alliance. I want to spend that time preparing this ship to face the unknown. I want all of you to make sure that your departments are seriously putting their effort and determination into their work. But remember: this is a peaceful rescue mission. I do not want you under the impression that we are going into battle."

The senior staff knew what the Captain meant. He dismissed them and everyone returned to their duties.

Later at around 1800 hours, Larson was on Deck 5. He was walking down a corridor when somebody behind him called out "Captain! Captain, do you have a moment?"

He turned and saw Lieutenant Casey running toward him. As Casey stopped in front of him, Larson asked "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

"Well, sir," said Casey, "Mr. Marquez and I were wondering if you would like to see that runabout he told you about."

"You mean the advanced Yellowstone-class one?" Larson assumed.

"Yes, that's the one." Casey replied. "We have it docked in the main shuttlebay. You may have caught a glimpse of it when we first arrived on the _Champion_."

"Actually, I did not have the time to do so." Larson confessed. "In about an hour, I will be having dinner with my wife and children. But I have plenty of time to see the runabout now, Mr. Casey."

"Very well, sir." said the lieutenant junior grade. "Follow me. I'll lead you to the main hanger."

"Alright." the Captain followed the Flight Controller to the main hanger. Conveniently, it had been on that same deck. The two of them only had to walk through nine corridors to get there.

When they got there, they found Lieutenant Marquez standing at the runabout's entrance. When they approached him, they found that he was conducting an inspection on the exterior of the small ship.

"Does it conform to standards, Lieutenant?" asked Larson, obviously referring to the runabout's structure and systems.

"It does, Captain." Marquez answered.

Then Casey smirked and added in "It is a standard model… plus a few appendages and upgrades Seth and I installed."

"What do you mean?"

Marquez grinned and told Larson "Even with the advanced models, there's room for improvement, Captain. Here, we'll show you."

The acting Chief Engineer opened the door and stepped inside. The Captain and Helmsman followed him. The cockpit of the runabout was very spacious. Larson was impressed by its design and how it was covered with improved technology and panels on all the counters.

"Very interesting." Larson commented. "I look forward to having the opportunity to utilize this ship."

"This ship has everything you would need to be out at space for longer than a year." said Casey. "It has comfortable crew quarters, replicators, phasers, torpedoes, and the starcharts of all the space that has been explored."

Larson gave an approving nod. Then he noticed a ladder that went up through the ceiling. There was a hole in the ceiling just above the ladder. He asked to no one in particular "What is this ladder for?"

"That leads up to a hatch, sir." Marquez pointed out. "You can climb up it when the ship is on the ground to get on the roof. It makes repairing the roof on a planet that much easier. In fact, there's an airlock you can seal off at your feet when you're at the top of the ladder. If you don an EV suit, you can even go out on the ship to make repairs while you're still in space."

"Now **that **is impressive." Larson whistled.

"Here, I'll show you the roof, Captain." Marquez climbed up the ladder to the top of the runabout. Larson followed him close behind. Casey stayed behind to inspect the terminals in the cockpit.

The two men emerged on top and walked around the mostly-flat roof. As Larson surveyed the roof for himself, he noticed two items that had been added on to the deflector dish.

"What are these two devices right here?" asked Larson, gesturing to the apparatuses attached to the deflector array.

"Oh, the one on the right is an absorption unit and the one of the left is an energy converter." Marquez told him.

"I don't recognize them from any of the blueprints, even the ones of the advanced model." Larson told him.

"That's because they aren't part of the model." Marquez enlightened the Captain. "Nick and I installed them ourselves. They're quite handy devices. You see, Captain, they are put to use whenever the ship is under attack. Whenever any spot within ten meters of the deflector is hit by certain types of phaser-fire, the absorption unit takes in the energy. Once the energy has been accumulated, the converter alters the energy to the frequency of the shields and fortifies them."

"So, you're saying that when phaser-fire hits the ship, the shields are strengthened instead of weakened?" said Larson. "And all of that because of these two devices."

"We're hoping to make it that general, sir." said Marquez. "But we still have some more work to do. Right now, these devices only work on phaser-fire set on certain wavebands- such as Cardassian, Romulan, Klingon. However, it is possible to adapt them to new types of phaser-fire. We're also working on a way to increase the range of the devices so that they can absorb the fire from anywhere on the ship. Right now, it only collects the phaser-fire that strikes the roof. If the ship is hit on the side or the bottom, the shields start to deplete."

"Still, it is a very convenient contraption, Mr. Marquez." Larson admired the engineer's work. "I need to speak with Mr. Casey for a moment. You go ahead and conduct your inspection."

"Yes, sir." said Marquez. Larson climbed down the ladder as Marquez inspected the deflector array.

Back inside the runabout, Larson found Casey was now in the cockpit. He was inspecting all of the modifications he had made to the navigations network. Larson came up behind him and watched him while he worked. While Casey worked, he said "Very efficient performance, Mr. Casey."

"Thank you, Captain." said Casey. "Seth and I made what we saw to be the most ideal revisions to even the advanced runabout."

"Mr. Casey, there's something I'd like to talk to you about regarding the last senior staff meeting." Larson said to the helmsman.

"Oh, yeah, about that," said Casey, "I'm sorry for that sarcastic comment about us 'going in blind,' Captain. I can just get very nervous when we explore regions of space we know little about. And when I get nervous, sometimes I say sardonic things."

"Lieutenant, you are free to voice your moods and thoughts during the meetings." Larson assured the pilot. "I am referring to something I have noticed between you and Commander Wood."

"What do you mean, Captain?"

"During the debriefing, both you and he deliberately avoided making eye contact with each other." Larson pointed out. "And aside from that, both of you don't seem to be getting along with each other rather well."

"Oh, it's a personal matter, Captain." Casey told Larson. "However, I don't feel uncomfortable talking about it. I'll tell you about it if you want to hear it."

"Go right ahead, Lieutenant." said Larson.

As Casey worked on the runabout to ensure that everything was in place and functioning properly, he began enlightening the Captain: "Commander Wood and I attended Starfleet Academy at the same time. He was a freshman when I was a junior. However, he and I both graduated at the end of the following term. You see, sir, I do not believe that it was wise for the Federation Council to allow Commander Wood to graduate after just two terms."

"But he more than sufficiently proved that he knew all of the material taught at the Academy by the end of his second term." Larson pointed out. "One could logically assume that the Council saw no reason for him to have to stay behind to learn material he had covered himself."

"That is understandable, sir," Casey agreed, "but I still believe that everyone should undergo the whole four years in order to be in Starfleet."

"That has not always been the case." Larson told the lieutenant. "Just look at Admiral B'Elanna Paris. She dropped out of the Academy after her second year. But after returning home from the Delta Quadrant, she and the rest of the Maquis from _Voyager _were offered positions in Starfleet."

"True, but that was 2378; three whole decades ago, sir." Casey indicated. "This is 2408. Times change."

"What does that mean?" asked Larson.

"Starfleet regulations are continuously stipulated more and more with each passing year." was the Flight Controller's response.

"And your point is what, Nicholas?" inquired Larson.

Casey was a bit stunned to hear the Captain address him by his first name. Then he specified what he meant: "My point, Captain, is that a person's IQ should not influence how quickly they become qualified for a certain occupation, such as a career in Starfleet."

Larson suddenly smirked and said "Mr. Casey, forgive me for suggesting so, but it seems to me that you are jealous of Commander Wood's achievements."

Casey seemed to turn somewhat pale at that time. When his face returned to its normal hue, he said "No, Captain, not at all. You see, I don't care how quickly Commander Wood and I acquire our ranks. I'm perfectly content with being a lieutenant junior grade."

"Good, I'm glad we got that bit of business cleared up." said Larson. "Now, I want you to accept Commander Wood's role on this ship. I also want you to accept the Federation Council's decision to send him out here after merely two years of being a cadet."

"That may take some time, sir." Casey told Larson. "However, I am sure I can come to accept the Commander Wood and his role on this ship."

"Take all the time you need, Lieutenant." Larson told the pilot. "But you must swear to not let your grudge against Commander Wood interfere with your job performance."

"Of course I won't, sir." Casey promised his commanding officer. "In any event, I can put aside my personal feelings whenever the situation calls for it."

"Every moment on this ship calls for it, Lieutenant." Larson corrected him. "There are several occasions when the Second Officer and the Chief Conn Officer are required to go on away missions together."

"I understand, sir." said Casey. Larson could tell he was not lying.

At that moment, Marquez came back down from the roof. He was about to say something, but as he stepped of the ladder, he noticed that Larson and Casey were in conversation. He asked "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No, you didn't, Mr. Marquez." replied Larson. "Mr. Casey and I were just finished a discussion."

"I see." said Marquez, briefly looking over at Casey. After glancing at Casey, he turned to Larson and asked him "So, what do you think of the runabout, Captain?"

"Magnificent." said Larson. "What did you say its name was?"

"We didn't, sir." said Marquez. "We've yet to name this ship."

"We thought that the honor should go to you." said Casey. "Sure, the two of us are the ones who upgraded it, but you're the Captain of this ship."

Larson stood thinking for a moment, but could not think of a good name. He told the two officers that he would decide on one later.

An hour later, Larson was in his quarters having lunch with Emily, Sherman, and Helen. They had replicated pork chops and white rice. Dinner was rarely eaten in silence between the four of them, but conversations were always interesting and never monotonous at their table.

"How was work today, Dad?" asked Helen.

"It went well, Helen." answered her father. "Thank you for asking."

"Anything you'd like to elaborate on?" asked Sherman.

"'Elaborate?'" said Emily. "Sherman, when I was your age, I didn't even know that word existed."

Sherman shrugged and said "Helen and I saw it as ideal to expand our vocabulary. You use a lot of complex terms when you're on duty, Dad."

"It would be another reason to join Starfleet, Sherman." Mike pointed out. "You'd know the meaning of practically every word in the English dictionary."

"Right." said Sherman as he downed a spoonful of rice.

"So, you didn't answer his question." said Emily to her husband. "Is there anything you would like to give more details on?"

As Mike chewed on a piece of his pork chop, he said "Well, Commander Sanderson's position on this ship is still something of a controversial matter amongst the crew. Fortunately, most of the senior staff is willing to accept her."

"Who isn't willing?" asked Helen.

"Lieutenant Halrinso and Doctors Rizux and Keller." answered Mike. "But I'm sure they can come to accept her."

"Why would Dr. Keller not be willing to accept her?" asked Emily.

Mike swallowed the bit of pork chop in his mouth and told her "It's in his programming that he should follow all established Starfleet rules and regulations. He's even programmed to feel disappointment and frustration towards people who break the said rules and regulations."

"Fascinating." said Sherman. "It's still quite an interesting concept; a sentient hologram. I know that Starfleet's had them around for nearly forty years, but how could they have created artificial intelligence that is almost consciousness as we know it?"

"I gave up asking that question long ago." said Mike.

"Now that the ship has a full senior staff-" Emily began.

"We do for the moment." Mike interrupted. "Commander Sanderson and Lieutenant Marquez are still deciding if they want to stay onboard."

"Okay." said Emily. "As I was saying, now that the ship has a full senior staff, what will we do next?"

"We've been given orders to head for an area of space beyond the Ferengi Alliance." Mike enlightened his wife and children. "The Starship _Dionysius_, a research vessel, disappeared there last week. Our orders are to go and find it and the crew."

"A rescue mission?" assumed Sherman.

"Exactly." his father nodded. "I'm holding out high hopes that they're all right. But there's no telling what trouble they could have run into."


	12. Unique Phenomenon

Note: From now on, I'm going to say which things I own at the end of each chapter so as not to give away spoilers.

Two days later, the _Champion _arrived at the Ferengi border. This is an excerpt from Larson's log entries: _Captain's log Stardate 84312.1. We have rendezvoused with the Ferengi freighter _Beraalam_. I've invited the vessel's commanding officer, DaiMon Kosf, to come on board to discuss some last minute terms of our survey behind their territory._

Captain Larson was sitting in his chair in his ready room. DaiMon Kosf was sitting on the other side of his desk with two of his men. One of them was Teren, his science officer, and the other was Gralem, his head archeologist. Commanders Sanderson and Wood were standing behind Captain Larson as the negotiations went on.

"So, let me get this straight." said Larson during the conversation. "The Ferengi Alliance is no longer willing to complete this bargain with us going uncharged?"

"Captain, the Ferengi Alliance is still willing to give you that sensor data and let you pass our territory at no cost," Kosf assured Larson, "but we've decided that this can only happen on one condition."

"Name it." said Larson.

"Teren, Gralem, and I will accompany you." answered Kosf. "Our government saw it as ideal to have a few of our people observe this region of space at some point in time; it may as well be now."

"Is that the only reason why?" asked Larson. "Or is there another reason?"

"Actually, there is another reason." said Kosf. "The disappearances of over a dozen of our vessels have sparked our curiosity. We wish to discover what has become of them, even though it has been centuries since they disappeared."

Larson took a moment to think about Kosf's request, and then he said "Your terms are acceptable. Is there anything from your ship that you wished to be transported onboard?"

"No, we can make do with your technology." said Kosf. He stood up, approaching Larson, and dropped a computer chip on his desk. As Larson picked it up, Kosf told him "All the sensor logs you requested are stored in that chip. Now if you don't mind, I will contact my ship and let them know to depart."

"Go right ahead, DaiMon." said Larson. "Commander Wood will assign you and your men quarters."

They were about to leave when Kosf remembered something. He turned to Larson and said "Captain, I would like to request that a copy of our vessel's database be downloaded into the computers in our quarters. It contains all the information we have of our culture. We feel that we may need it while we are on this mission."

"Alright, I'll have Lieutenant Paris get right on that." said Larson.

"Thank you, Captain." said Kosf. Wood led the three Ferengi out of the ready room and gave Miral the order to download the database of the _Beraalam_. As she got to work, Patrick escorted the Ferengi into the turbolift and took them down to one of the levels with the crew quarters.

In the ready room, Sanderson was standing against the wall and looking out the window to the great expanse of space. Larson stood up and asked her "Well, what do you think, Commander?"

"About what, sir?"

"What do you think we'll find out there?" he clarified.

"I'm not sure." Sanderson answered truthfully. "We may encounter a variety of things: space anomalies, disturbances in the space-time continuum, displacement waves, or even new species out there."

"It's always nice to hope for the best, is it not?" said Larson.

"Of course, sir." said Sanderson. "Whatever we encounter, I'm sure it will be more interesting than a survey on the psychological effects of dilithium mining."

Larson soon realized what Sanderson meant. Concerned for his acting Executive Officer, he asked "Did everything go alright on Kinnalia V?"

"Well, yes, our studies were coming up with promising results." said Sanderson. "But I felt kind of uneasy being in the dark for so long. You see, for the past decade, I've been suffering from acute claustrophobia."

"That is understandable." said Larson. "Speaking of which, there is something I would like to know. How has the senior staff been treating you these past few days?"

"Well, I told Ensigns Hopkins and Nobema, Lieutenant Casey, and Lieutenant Commander Wood all about the incident itself." Sanderson answered. "You see, none of them had any prior knowledge of the Qurunian events. All four of them have made it clear that they do not think of me as a disgrace to Starfleet. They actually disapprove of the sentence I was given."

"That's fortunate to know." said Larson. "What of the rest of the staff?"

"I can tell that Doctors Rizux and Keller feel somewhat uneasy about my status on this ship." said Sanderson. "But I feel that they can easily come to accept my position on the _Champion_. Lieutenants Marquez and Paris seem to be approving of your decision. The only one I'm sure does not approve is Lieutenant Halrinso."

"To tell you the truth, I would have been surprised if he **did **approve." said Larson. "Mr. Halrinso is a much disciplined officer and a strict interpreter of Starfleet regulations."

"He's definitely the most serious Bolian I've ever seen." Sanderson agreed.

"I'm sure there will be a way to convince him that you are still dedicated to Starfleet and everything it is built upon." said Larson.

"I hope so, sir." said Sanderson. "I wouldn't want to be the Executive Officer on a starship without the approval of the entire senior staff."

"You know, you're not the only member of the senior staff that is not entirely certain about remaining on board."

"Who else isn't?"

"Lieutenant Marquez." said Larson. "I offered him the position of Chief Engineer because he knows more about this ship than anyone else on board."

"Why is he uncertain?"

"It is something of a sophisticated matter." said Larson. "I can give you the short version, or you can ask the Lieutenant for the long version."

"I'll have the short version." said Sanderson. Larson told her the basics of Marquez's story: his lover's pregnancy, their teenage parenthood, their controversial acceptance into Starfleet, the Romulan confrontation on the _Circinus_, and the death of Gabriella.

"Well, at least Mr. Marquez does not have a disreputable mark on his permanent record." Sanderson pointed out.

"We'll just have to wait and see what he decides on." said Larson.

A few decks down, Diana Marquez was in the quarters she shared with her father. She was taking some time to read a classic novel from early-21st century Earth. She had a certain fascination with literature from the era before the warpdrive had been patented on Earth. Life before space travel had a certain interesting point to it.

Before long, her father returned from his shift in main engineering. As he entered the room, his daughter called out "Hi, Dad!"

"Hey, sweetie." he said. He went over where his daughter was sitting and collapsed on the couch opposite her. As he did, he closed his eyes and breathed out "Ahhhh."

Diana looked up from her book and asked "How was today's shift in engineering?"

Her father answered "It was very productive. Pearson has finally memorized all of the frequencies, and most of the engineering staff has become well-acquainted with the procedures involved in every possible scenario."

"And what have you done?" said Diana.

"I've done a lot." said Marquez. "I conducted a diagnostic on the matter/antimatter shielding; I calculated the rate of plasma flow for the next three days, and I purged some impurities from the warp core."

"I guess that qualifies as productive." said Diana. "This is quite an impressive ship."

"Indeed it is." said Marquez. "I'm finding that it's becoming harder and harder on me knowing that we'll have to part with it."

"We don't **have** to." said Diana. "I think it's time you decided whether or not you will accept Captain Larson's offer."

"Diana, I'm sure I do not have to lecture you on why we can't stay onboard." said Marquez, sitting up and looking his daughter in the eyes. "One can never know what sort of trouble this ship will-"

"Dad, I can tell that it isn't the ship itself that bothers you." Diana noticed. "I want to know; what's the real reason why you don't want to take the risks?"

There was a prolonged silence in the room. Marquez took a lot of time to ponder on this question. Soon he answered his daughter's query: "The real reason is that… I don't think **I** will be able to protect you from all the risks."

"Dad, you've protected me all my life!" said Diana.

"I'm afraid that I may only be able to protect you so much." said Marquez. "There may come a point when we encounter something even I cannot save you from."

"You've managed that all your life, Dad." said Diana. "You are more than capable of doing that. I'm sure you can do it. I **know** you can do it. One thing I can safely say about you is that you never give up, and you don't quit, even when you feel the situation is hopeless."

"Are you sure about that, sweetie?" said Marquez. "Suppose my determination to keep you safe is not enough. Suppose that on a ship like this, I cannot protect you alone."

"Captain Larson will help you then." said Diana. "I am sure Commander Wood, Lieutenant Halrinso, Ensign Hopkins, and the rest of the senior staff will help you, too. In fact, you have more friends on this ship than you realize, Dad! I can't think of anyone that wouldn't help you if you needed help."

"I know that they'll be willing to help me." Marquez told her. "But I still have the guilt of your mother's death on my conscience."

"Look at it this way: you'll be giving yourself a chance of redemption, just as how Captain Larson is giving Commander Sanderson a chance of redeeming her reputation." Diana prudently observed. "If you believe in yourself, you can keep me safe and be this ship's Chief Engineer at the same time."

Marquez sighed and said "You're right, Diana."

Not another word of this matter was spoken that day.

Finally, the _Champion _approached the coordinates that the _Dionysius _had been transmitted data from when the Argus Array had lost contact with it.

All the senior staff except Lieutenant Marquez and Doctor Keller had arrived on the bridge. Larson sat in the Captain's Chair, with Sanderson sitting to his left and Wood sitting to his right. Casey and Hopkins were at their posts at the front of the bridge, Nobema and Miral were at their post to the left of the bridge, and Halrinso and Rizux were at their posts to the right of the bridge. Tom and B'Elanna stood behind the rail which was behind Wood, Sanderson, and Larson.

The three Ferengi were on the bridge as well. Kosf stood behind the rail with the Admirals, Teren stood with Rizux at the science station, and Gralem stood near Miral at the tactical station.

Casey stated "Captain, we're nearing the last known coordinates of the _Dionysius_."

"Alright, bring us out of warp." ordered Larson. "Take us to one-quarter impulse."

"Aye, sir." Casey entered the adjustment into his workstation. The _Champion _dropped out of warp and advanced forward slowly at one-quarter impulse power.

Larson turned to the security chief and told him "Mr. Halrinso, scan for any Federation starship signals within a radius of twenty light-years."

Halrinso ran his scan of the specified regions, and reported "There are none, Captain."

Miral studied some tactical readings on the area of space they had just entered. Something abruptly caught her attention. She announced "Captain… sensors are detecting a type of quantum singularity directly ahead of us."

Rizux ran a scientific analysis of the region and confirmed Miral's claim "She's right. There's a displacement field in that part of space."

"All stop." Larson ordered immediately.

Casey cut the connection to the impulse engines and said "All stop, sir."

"Captain… there's something out there." Nobema declared. "Something immense."

"On screen." said Larson.

Nobema activated the viewscreen. The entire senior staff focused their attention on the front of the room. What they saw was incredible.

There was a large bundle of thick mist directly in front of them. It was in a spherical shape and was so large that Nobema had to decrease magnification by 10 times to fit all over it on the viewscreen, which itself was rather large.

"What is that?" asked B'Elanna in awe.

"I'm not sure." said Nobema. "But it's massive; it's covering a radius of at least sixty miles."

"I would say 65.3 miles." Wood perceived. "Assuming that the shape of the anomaly is a perfect sphere, the area it covers must be approximately pi times 4264.09 miles. That in turn comes out to an estimated area of 13396.033818245701-"

"Yes, thank you, Patrick." Larson interrupted. "It would have sufficed if you limited it to two decimal places."

Wood grinned and said "I know, Captain. But where's the fun in that?"

Pretending to ignore Wood's comment, Larson requested an analysis of the anomaly from the other members of the bridge staff.

"I'm picking up large amounts of oxygen molecules." said Rizux. "And there's about twice as many hydrogen molecules."

"They appear to be structured in a mist-like shape, Captain." Miral announced. "It is not solid, liquid, or gas. It appears to be some form of vapor."

Everybody looked up from their stations and glanced at the huge mass on the viewscreen. Nobema then made a determination on what she believed the singularity was. She said "Captain, that thing's a gigantic cloud."

"You mean a cloud as in some form of space anomaly?" said Larson.

"No, sir." said Nobema. "I mean it's a type of cloud like the one you find in a planet's atmosphere."

"I believe she's right, Captain." DaiMon Kosf agreed. "Trust me; every Ferengi knows how to distinguish a cloud from all other naturally occurring phenomena."

Larson and Tom both knew what Kosf meant; as it was almost always raining on Ferenginar, a Ferengi would easily know how to tell a cloud apart from everything else visually, scientifically, and instinctively.

"How can that be?" said Rizux. "It is physically impossible for hydrogen and oxygen to maintain that kind of molecular formula in the vacuum of space."

"It doesn't appear to be stabilized on its own, Doctor." said Halrinso. "I'm detecting a type of artificial barrier formed around the cloud."

"You mean something is holding that thing in place?" said Tom.

"It would appear that way." observed Wood, studying the console next to his chair. "It is possible that something inside the cloud is attracting energy from the space around it and using it to greatly increase the magnetic polarity of the hydrogen and oxygen molecules."

"That is an astute theory, Commander." said Halrinso. "But the power source appears to be emanating from **within** the cloud. I would almost categorize the barrier as some variety of forcefield."

"Captain, I'm picking up large amounts of matter and energy inside that cloud." Rizux announced. "The matter is maintaining its current levels, but the energy is in a state of flux."

"He's right." said Teren, examining Rizux's readings. "It would appear as though the energy is shifting in terms of its position. It is also being converted rapidly from one type into another type."

"Is the total amount of energy increasing or decreasing?" inquired Sanderson.

"Neither, apparently." said Miral. "The energy is constantly changing its location and type, but the quantities of it are stable."

Gralem observed Miral's work, and made his own deduction. He presented it to Larson: "It would appear that some of the matter in that cloud is organic, Captain. In addition to hydrogen and oxygen, there are large amounts of carbon, nitrogen, and other elements in there."

"Are there any lifesigns?" asked Larson.

Nobema studied the sensors and confirmed "Yes, there are. But it's impossible to determine how many."

Something just occurred to Larson. "What exactly were the last known coordinates of the _Dionysius_?" he asked his Second Officer.

Wood studied the report on the _Dionysius_ on his monitor, and then he replied "They were **inside** the cloud, sir."

Larson sat back in his chair. He put his hands together and said to the rest of the bridge crew "Well, looks like we're just going to have to… visit the inside of that cloud."

"Captain, are you sure that's wise?" said Halrinso. "We have no idea what could be in there."

"I am well aware of that, Lieutenant." said Larson, turning to the Bolian security chief. "But isn't exploring the unknown the primary mission of this vessel?"

Halrinso stood there in silence. Then he answered "You are correct, sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Halrinso." said Larson. He looked over at Miral and asked her "Lieutenant Paris, is it possible to penetrate that cloud's barrier?"

The Tactical Officer examined her readings and said "Yes, sir. We just have to advance on it gently."

Larson turned back to the front of the bridge and said "Mr. Casey, take us in at half-impulse."

Casey made a few course adjustments and said "We're running at half-impulse."

The _Champion _slowly approached the cloud. After about two minutes of cruising forward, it came in contact with the cloud's barrier. The barrier was surprisingly easy to pass through. After another thirty seconds, Casey announced "We are now inside the cloud, sir."

Note: I own DaiMon Kosf, Teren, and Gralem. I also own the cloud anomaly.


	13. Investigating The Unusual

The _Champion _slowly cruised further into the vast cloud. As it made its way through, Rizux, Miral, and Nobema took time to study the area around them. Teren and Gralem assisted them in their work. When the _Champion _was forty miles inward, Larson ordered another all-stop. Casey brought the ship to a standstill and kept his eyes on the navigation charts.

"Nobema, try scanning for bio-signs again." Larson ordered the Romulan Ensign.

She announced "The resolution is much clearer this time, sir. But it is still difficult to say how many bio-signs there are."

"Then just give me a rough estimate." said Larson.

"Alright, then." said Nobema. "I would say that there are approximately… 1.2 billion."

Everyone there was completely stunned by her answer. Larson asked "Did you say… **billion**, Ensign?"

"Yes, sir." Nobema confirmed. "There are about 1.2 billion bio-signs in this cloud."

"How could there be that many in such a small amount of space?" said Tom.

"I don't know." said Nobema. "But there are that many, if not more."

"I'm getting the same readings." Rizux reported. "Evidently our instruments are not malfunctioning."

An icon started beeping on the panel to Casey's left. It was the navigation charts. He studied the chart and reported "I'm picking up another large mass outside the ship."

"Another cloud, Lieutenant?" said Sanderson.

Casey took a moment to investigate, and then reported "No, Commander. It's solid. It's another perfect sphere and it registers as a planetoid."

"Put the viewscreen back on." Larson ordered.

"It is on, sir." said Hopkins.

The viewscreen was showing nothing except the parts of the cloud directly in front of the _Champion_. At that moment they were unsure how they could use their equipment to see through the thick haze. Commander Wood was the first to come up with an idea. He turned to Lieutenant Paris and said "Miral, program the shield harmonics to emit an infrared beam of light. That should allow us to see what is around us."

The quarter-Klingon tactical officer went to work and said "The beam's being emitted now, sir."

The viewscreen was providing a clearer image of everything within twenty miles. Sure enough, there was a small planetoid directly in front of the ship.

"It's not very large." said Rizux. "It only appears to have a radius of ten miles."

"Captain, I believe that that planet is the center of the cloud." Teren speculated. "On a side note, it matches the specifications of a class-M planet: oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, a temperate climate, and a gravitational pull of 9.81 meters per second."

"Are there any bio-signs on that planet?" said Larson.

"None that I can detect." said Nobema. "But I'm picking up another energy reading from the planet. It appears to be some type of technology."

"It could very well be the power source of the barrier that is holding this cloud in place." Halrinso hypothesized.

"Perhaps we should go down there and investigate." Wood suggested.

"That's a good idea, Patrick." said Larson. "Nick, get us in orbit around the planet. Once we're prepared, we'll beam to the surface."

"I wouldn't recommend that, Captain." said Nobema. "There's a lot of subspace interference between the planet's surface and its orbit. It could disrupt our transporters."

"We could take a shuttle." Wood proposed.

"That is not advisable, either." Halrinso cautioned. "There is more disturbance in the planet's atmosphere. You may encounter too much turbulence to safely make it to the surface."

Everyone looked at Larson, waiting for another suggestion. He just grinned and said "Then we'll take the _Desperado_."

"Sir?" said Sanderson.

"That's what I've decided to name our runabout, Commander." Larson clarified. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you agree?"

"Well, it is very… innovative, to say the least, Captain." said Wood.

"Right." said Larson. "Now, getting back to the survey of the planet's surface, I will lead the away team. Lieutenant Casey, I'll need you to pilot the runabout. Ensign Hopkins, you will set up a beacon on the surface that'll allow us contact the _Champion _through the subspace interference. Dr. Rizux, you will come along in case we need to catalog any plant life indigenous to this planet. Commanders Wood and Sanderson will accompany us."

"Captain, I would like to request that my men and I join you." DaiMon Kosf said from behind Larson.

"Are you sure, DaiMon?" asked Larson. "We have no idea what is down there."

"Which is precisely why we wish to go." said Kosf. "We may only be members of the crew of a freighter, but we still take almost as much pleasure in exploring the unknown as you do."

"Very well." Larson agreed. The three Ferengi, the Crenaran, and the five Humans piled into the turbolift. Before the doors closed, Larson said "You've got the bridge, Tom."

Everyone on the bridge looked over at the Fleet Admiral. He just gazed back at them and said "As you were."

Everyone returned to their work as Tom visually monitored their progress.

After each member of the away team had acquired a bag of equipment from the science lab, they headed to the main shuttle bay on Deck 5.

Larson led everyone over to the runabout. Casey and Marquez had imprinted _USS Desperado _on the sides, the back, and the front of the small ship. Up until that point, they had been the only two that knew that Larson had named it the _Desperado_.

Everybody got into the cockpit and took their places. Casey sat in the pilot's chair and Sanderson sat next to him at the front. Hopkins and Gralem sat to the left of the room at the communications and observance stations. Rizux and Teren sat to the right of the room at the science stations. Kosf, Wood, and Larson stood at a terminal in the center of the room.

"The entrance is shut and sealed." Wood reported. "I've programmed the shields to emit that same infrared beam of light as the _Champion_'s shields. We'll be able to see through the clouds just as easily."

"Engines are up and running." Sanderson proclaimed.

"Navigations online." said Casey.

"Captain, Lieutenant Halrinso is sending us a message." said Hopkins. "He says that we are clear to proceed."

"Alright, then," said Larson as he walked around the terminal, "Nick, show us what this thing can do."

"With pleasure, sir." said Casey.

The runabout lifted itself off the floor of the cargo hold and turned towards the hanger's exit. The thrusters were activated, allowing the runabout to gracefully advance forward. Once it was clear of the hanger, it flew towards the small planet. It would still be about five minutes until they reached the surface of the planet, so the Starfleet and Ferengi commanders took some time to talk.

"Captain, about the name of your ship…" Kosf began.

"What about it, DaiMon?" inquired Larson.

"I'm curious; what is a desperado?" said the Ferengi officer.

"Oh, that's what you mean." Larson explained "On Earth, it's a term that was used often on Earth. It actually means a violent criminal."

"Really?" said the stunned DaiMon. "It is rather unusual to apply a term such as that to a Federation vessel."

"I dubbed this ship _Desperado _because I felt that doing so would add a nice contrast." Larson elucidated. "The Federation is built upon peace and harmony, but like a real desperado, we Starfleet officers are not to be messed with!"

Kosf gave a nod of the head, indicating that he saw the logic in Larson's statement.

"Captain, we're about to enter the atmosphere." Sanderson reported.

"Keep us steady, Mr. Casey." said Larson.

"Aye, sir." said Casey. "But hang on; this could give you a little shake."

The _Desperado _penetrated the atmosphere and began making its way to the surface. Just as Halrinso had predicted, there was plenty of turbulence during the descent. But it was nothing a pilot of Casey's standards could not handle.

A few minutes later, the _Desperado _landed on the ground. The surface of the planet was smooth and flat. There were very few trees in the area, and a mountain was visible a mile away from the runabout.

Hopkins went to work setting up a beacon with which to contact the _Champion _through the spacial interference. As a test run, she said into the transceiver "This is the _Desperado_ calling the _Champion_. We have arrived on the surface of the planetoid. Respond, please. Over."

A few moments later, they heard Nobema's voice. She replied "This is the _Champion_. We read you loud and clear. Over."

Hopkins had everybody's combadges aligned with the beacon so that they could remain in contact with the _Champion _will on the planet's surface. Once she had finished, Larson explained his plan: "We'll fan out and study this area of the planetoid. Rizux and Teren will conduct a geological survey of this region. Wood will accompany them. Kosf, Sanderson, Gralem, and I will search for the source of that energy reading we picked up earlier. When we have located it, we'll rendezvous at its coordinates."

"Casey, you stay here and keep the engines warm." Larson ordered the pilot. "Just in case we need to make a hasty departure, we'll keep the ship prepped. Hopkins, I'll need you here to keep an eye on the beacon. Just in case it gives out, we'll need you to bring it back online."

Then everyone except Casey and Hopkins departed the shuttle. Rizux, Wood, and Teren set off in one direction, and Larson, Kosf, Sanderson, and Gralem set off in another one.

The three of them were awestruck by what their instruments told them about the planet. They had indicated that there were very little amounts of bacteria in the soil beneath the ground. Yet somehow, the grass was very firm and strong. But there was no noticeable sign of growth in the grass, even on a microscopic level. There was no wind, no sunlight, and the sky of the planet was completely covered with by the cloud surrounding it. There was also very little diversity in plant life on that planet. It appeared that the entire planet was covered by smooth green grass with a few trees of an unidentifiable genus.

"Quite a desolate place, isn't this?" commented Teren.

"I would say so." Wood concurred. "If I didn't know better, I would say that this planet could in some ways be classified as preserved."

"What do you mean, 'preserved?'" asked Rizux.

"Well, according to these readings, nothing on this planet is growing," Wood explained, "but nothing is diminishing either. Everything is remaining in the exact same stage of its current development."

"The soil must have a stationary metabolic rate." Teren concluded.

"I've only heard some theories on that." said Rizux. "I've never actually seen something like that before."

"Well, Doctor, it appears that you are seeing it right now." said Wood.

A few hundred feet away, Larson and his team were scanning for the energy source they had detected from the _Champion _earlier. While Kosf and Gralem occupied themselves in one area, Larson looked at Sanderson and asked her "What do you think about this place, Commander?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure how to categorize it, yet." she replied honestly. "This is a very interesting planetoid. I keep getting a feeling that it is going to rain."

"I feel it, too." Larson admitted. Their instincts were understandable; the sky was completely covered by the cloud anomaly.

"If you want some rain, Captain, we'd be glad to let you visit Ferenginar when this mission is over." Kosf called from ten meters away.

"No thank you, DaiMon." Larson chuckled.

After a few more moments of searching, Gralem's instruments started beeping. Everybody else turned to him. He announced "I think I may have found the location of that energy source. It's coming from over there."

He pointed in the general direction of the mountain.

"You're sure?" said Kosf.

"Yes, absolutely, DaiMon." said Gralem. "The energy signature is emanating from that mountain."

"Alright then." Larson tapped his combadge and said into it "Larson to Commander Wood."

"Wood here; go ahead, sir." came from the other side.

"We believe we have located that energy source." Larson announced. "We want you to meet us at the bottom of the mountain."

"Understood, sir." acknowledged the young Lieutenant Commander. "Wood out."

"Let's go." said Larson to the Ferengi and the acting First Officer.

Fifteen minutes later, all seven of them had rendezvoused at the base of the mountain. It slanted upward at a forty degree angle. The seven people started climbing up the rise until they came to an opening about a quarter of the way up. Gralem scanned the opening and declared "The energy reading is coming from within this cave."

Back at the _Desperado_, Casey was taking some time to run a brief diagnostic of the navigation controls. Hopkins was continuing to monitor the communications line that had been established between the _Champion_ and the _Desperado_, and the one that had been established between the _Desperado _and the away team.

"What do you think they'll find?" Casey asked her.

"I don't really know." Hopkins replied dully. "But I'm hoping that something will happen soon. I'm getting a little bored just waiting here."

"I suppose you'd rather be breaking up a bar fight back on Alpha Centauri?" he said.

She smirked at him. "I actually didn't have to break one up. I stopped them all before they could even get started."

"Quite a handiwork for a communications officer." Casey noted.

"It was more my linguistics abilities that contributed to my work there." she said.

Larson's voice abruptly came over the console: "Cheryl, are you there?"

She turned to the panel and said "Yes, what is it, Captain?"

"Do you see that mountain in the distance?"

Casey and Hopkins looked out the screen to see the huge peak about a mile away.

"Yes, we see it, sir." the latter replied.

"We're about to enter a cave located a quarter of the way up." said Larson. "You may need to strengthen the frequency of the beacon to contact us from inside the mountain."

"Okay, I'll get to work on that." said Hopkins. "Go right in."

Larson and the others made their way through the entrance of the cave. The passageway was dark and narrow. Larson noticed that Sanderson was shuddering a little. But he already knew why: she had been in caves for the past few weeks and now she was right back in one.

About five hundred feet into the mountain, the beeping on everyone's tricorders was steadily increasing in rapidity. Rizux announced "Captain, I believe that we will arrive at a chamber soon. A large portion of the vicinity ahead of us appears to be hollow."

"The Doctor is correct." said Wood. "We should be entering this chamber in approximately 26.4 seconds."

Sure enough, they arrived at the end of the passage 26.4. They had arrived in the center of the mountain. The ceiling of the chamber was thousands of feet above the ground. Right in the center of the room, there was a huge computer terminal.

The seven explorers approached the workstation. They soon discovered that it was attached to an enormous structure that was imbedded into the ground. The structure had the same hue and texture as the rough, brown surface of the mountain's walls. Almost all of it was covered in a thin layer of dust, and it extended all the way to the top of the mountain.

"What is this thing?" said Teren, amazed by the size and arrangement of the structure.

"Well, it's definitely the source of the energy signature." Rizux declared. "But beyond that, I have no idea what it is."

"I'm not sure what this is either." said Gralem, running a tricorder over the huge artifact. "But based on these readings, it's at least fifty million years old."

"Look over here." Wood pointed out a group of bizarre symbols carved onto a large section of the structure. "This may be some sort of message. Or perhaps instructions on how to operate it."

Larson took out the holo-imaging device from his equipment bag and snapped a few pictures of the symbols. Then he said into his combadge "Nick, bring the _Desperado_'s visual monitor up. We're sending you pictures of some captions on a structure we've discovered. We want Cheryl to take a look at them."

In the runabout, Casey walked over to the back of the cockpit and activated the screen. Using the beacon, Hopkins programmed the monitor to receive images from Larson's holo-imager. When the images came onto the monitor, she took some time to study them.

"What is your take on these pictograms?" Larson asked over the comline.

"I can't decipher any of these inscriptions." said Hopkins, examining the images of the relic over the _Desperado_'s monitor. "I've never seen such a language before, Captain."

"Well, try to calculate a syntax." he suggested. "Right now, we don't even know if this translates to a warning, a message, or anything else."

"Captain, take a look at this." Kosf pointed out a certain part of the structure. Larson approached it and he and the the DaiMon studied it together.

"It appears to be the main terminal of the entire computer." Kosf speculated.

"DaiMon, I do believe you're right." said Larson. "Did you notice that this is the only part of the entire structure that is not covered in dust?"

"No, I didn't." said Kosf. "That implies that someone may have recently worked on it."

While the two of them talked, a dim light started to appear on the terminal. This was soon noticed by both of the men.

"I wonder what this light indicates." Larson stated, a note of curiosity in his voice.

"Perhaps it's reactivating itself." Kosf theorized.

"Well, in that case, it looks like we'll finally learn what this thing is." said Larson.

The two men stood watching as the light on the terminal started to get brighter and brighter.

Without any warning, a massive bolt of electrical energy burst out from the center of the terminal. It struck both Kosf and Larson simultaneously. The two men were thrown off of their feet and they landed thirty feet away.

Wood, Sanderson, Teren, and Gralem rushed to the aid of their commanding officers. As they helped them to their feet, a loud humming sound started to fill the area.

Everyone turned back to the structure and looked up at it. The humming sound was growing louder and the structure was starting to illuminate.

After a few moments, Wood muttered "Oh my God. It's a reactor!"

"Let's get out of here!" said Sanderson.

The bolt of energy had rendered Kosf and Larson too weak to walk on their own. Their comrades helped them out of the chamber. Gralem and Teren were at the front of the group, helping Kosf through the passageway. Behind them, Larson was escorted out by Wood and Sanderson. Rizux ran at the back of the group. He tapped his combadge and said into it "Rizux to Casey."

"Casey, here." the pilot said on the other end.

"We need you to start the ship up and land at the base of the mountain to pick us up!" Rizux shouted as he ran.

"Why?" said Casey, alarmed at the Crenaran scientist's tone of voice. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"The Captain and DaiMon Kosf have been assaulted by a huge wave of electrical energy!" Rizux told the pilot. "We need to get them back to the _Champion _as soon as possible!"

"Okay, we're on our way." Casey went over to the pilot's seat and sat down. After Hopkins sealed the door to the outside, Casey lifted the _Desperado _into the air and flew directly towards the mountain.

"Do you see that cave they mentioned anywhere?" he asked Hopkins.

She glimpsed at the mountain as they approached it, finally pointing out the entrance to the cave. Casey set the _Desperado _down by the entrance. A few moments later, the other seven members of the landing party came dashing out.

After everyone was back on board, Casey turned the runabout towards the sky and began the ascent back to the _Champion_. All the while, Rizux was doing all he could to help Kosf and Larson. A few moments after the _Desperado _began its ascent, Kosf passed out. The same thing was about to happen to Larson.

Wood and Sanderson were kneeling next to Larson on one side. Rizux was kneeling on the other side.

"He's going to lose consciousness in a moment!" Rizux reported. "There's nothing I can do to prevent it!"

"Come on, Captain!" said Sanderson, shaking Larson vigorously. "Stay with us!"

Larson reached up to Sanderson and gripped her shoulder. He pulled her head closer to his. He made her place her ear two inches from his mouth. He hoarsely whispered into it "Get us out of this thing! And don't let anyone challenge your authority." Then he lost consciousness.

Both Wood and Sanderson just gazed down at him. Wood looked up at the Commander and placed his hand on her shoulder. He alleged "It looks like you're in charge for now."

She just turned her head towards the Lieutenant Commander and looked into his eyes for a few moments. She could see that he was completely serious. All she could do after that was look back down at the unconscious Captain.

Note: I own the planet located in the cloud and the _USS Desperado_.


	14. Arising Mysteries

Almost ten minutes later, the runabout was back on board the _Champion_. Hopkins had notified the bridge in advance to have a medical team standing by in the hanger. Once the _Desperado _had been docked, Larson and Kosf were escorted to sickbay by the team. Teren, Gralem, Rizux, Sanderson, and Wood accompanied them. Casey and Hopkins returned to the bridge and notified the rest of the senior staff on what had just happened.

In sickbay, Dr. Keller was doing his best to treat Larson and Kosf. He considered every type of revival drug in the ship's inventory, but concluded that none of them would suffice to wake either of the men.

"What exactly is wrong with them, Doctor?" Sanderson asked the EMH.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure, Commander." said Keller. "You see, they have no wounds or injuries of the physical sense anywhere on their bodies. All the damage appears to be in their part of their brain that controls awareness."

"So, essentially, they are comatose?" said Gralem.

"Yes, they are definitely in a coma," Keller confirmed, "but this is the most unusual coma I've ever seen."

"Doctor, wouldn't this be the **first **coma you've ever seen?" inquired Wood.

"You are correct, sir." said Keller. "But I can reference hundreds of cases involving comas from my medical database."

"That makes more sense." said Wood.

"What makes this type of coma so unusual?" asked Sanderson.

"It appears as though something is interfering with their neural pathways." Keller described his findings to the Commander. "It's inhibiting any of the drugs I give them."

"Is there anything you can do?" asked Teren.

"I'll try to find a way to administer the treatments with more success."Keller told him.

Sanderson folded her arms and ordered Keller to keep her apprised of the Captain and Kosf's conditions. She told them "I will be on the bridge if you need me. Patrick?"

Wood followed Sanderson out of sickbay.

In another place- it was impossible to say exactly where- Captain Larson opened his eyes. He was feeling quite delirious at the moment. After opening his eyes all the way and rubbing them, he looked around himself. He was surrounded by fog. He stood up and glanced in all directions. Nothing beyond ten feet was visible to him.

He tapped his combadge and said "Larson to _Champion_."

He realized that his combadge did not make its usual beeping sound. When he tapped it, there was no clicking noise. He tapped it again and said "Larson to _Desperado_."

Again, there was no beeping and no response.

He started walking around and he called out "Wood?"

There was no response.

He shouted "Sanderson? Rizux? Kosf? Teren? Gralem?"

He continued to walk through the fog and call out the names of the away team. There came no answer to his callings.

Back on the _Champion_, Sanderson had just arrived on the bridge with Wood. Casey and Hopkins had enlightened both the Admirals on what had happened to Kosf and Larson. They were about to ask the First and Second Officers about what happened, but both of them walked right by the Admirals. They walked around to their chairs and as they sat down, Sanderson said "Mr. Casey, plot a course out of this… cloud."

"What?" said B'Elanna. "We're just leaving?"

"That is correct, Admiral." Wood nodded.

"Dr. Keller just sent up his analysis on DaiMon Kosf and Captain Larson." said Tom. "He told us that he believes the only way he can start to devise a way to treat them is to get a look at that structure."

"I'm afraid we don't have time for that." said Sanderson. "We must depart this anomaly right away."

"But what about the Captain?" inquired B'Elanna.

"The Captain's last orders were for us to depart from this anomaly immediately." said Wood. "He's put Commander Sanderson in charge for the time being."

Sanderson turned to the front of the bridge and said "Mr. Casey, plot a course out of this region of space."

Casey was about to start entering a new course when Tom said "Belay that order, Lieutenant."

"Admiral, you may be the highest ranking officer on this ship," said Sanderson, "but this ship is still under the command of Captain Michael Larson. He put me in command, and some of his last words before he lost consciousness were 'Don't let anyone challenge your authority.'"

Tom did not look convinced. He just folded his arms and asked Sanderson "Can anyone verify that?"

"I can vouch for her." Hopkins spoke up. "I was there when he said that."

"So was I." said Casey.

"Commander Sanderson is currently the highest ranking officer serving on this ship." said Wood. "I would recommend that we simply accept that."

"Well, I for one think it is worth the risk to help our people." B'Elanna chimed in.

"Captain Larson and DaiMon Kosf are just two men." said Sanderson. "Both of them knew these risks and accepted them when they went on this mission."

"I still have the ability to take command of this ship over from you, Commander." said Tom. "To allude to regulation 59-D: 'In the event of an unknown threat presenting itself on a starship-'"

"'And there is someone ranked higher than Captain present, the highest ranking officer assumes command of the said starship.'" Sanderson finished for him. "I am well-aware of that, Admiral. You don't need to quote me regulations. But the only thing we have encountered that is qualified as 'unknown' is the structure down on that planet."

"It is still sufficient for you to yield your authority to me in this matter." said Tom.

"Forgive me for saying so, but I believe you are out of order, Admiral." Wood interjected. "Captain Larson did turn command of this ship over to Commander Sanderson. And I myself would like to quote regulation 113-K: 'If a CO has become unavailable after issuing an order, an officer who wishes to challenge that order must wait until the CO has become available again.'"

"You interpret regulations too literally, Mr. Wood." said Tom. "Besides, I still have both authority and rank over-"

"Forgive this interruption, sir," said Wood, "but the number of addendums on regulation 113 does not stop at eleven. Regulation 113-L finishes the preceding one: 'Regardless of rank.'"

"You know your regulations, Commander." B'Elanna noted, raising an eyebrow.

"Thank you." said Wood, standing up straight with his hands behind his back. "I always take them very seriously."

Tom still wasn't ready to give up. He looked at Wood and declared "Starfleet regulations are some of the most important things to me, Patrick. But friendship is equally important. I believe that we should try to do something about the Captain's condition."

Wood was about to quote another regulation, but Sanderson decided to use a more direct approach to debate with Tom Paris.

"Admiral," she stepped forward and told him patiently "I know that you and the Captain are close friends. I admire your concern for his wellbeing. But wouldn't you want his orders to be respected, even if he was unconscious? I mean, it is the least we could to be courteous to him; as this still is his ship."

Tom did not respond for almost a minute. Finally, he looked at Sanderson and said "You are right, Commander. If Mike- I mean, Captain Larson were to wake up in sickbay right now, he would be demanding to know why we have not left this place yet. I guess I should leave command of this ship in your hands."

B'Elanna placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. She whispered something in his ear, at which he turned to her and grinned.

Sanderson walked over to her chair and sat down. As Wood sat down in his chair, the XO said "Mr. Casey, plot a course out of this cloud. Thrusters only."

"Thrusters activated, Commander." Casey finished inputting the course he had started to enter earlier and the _Champion _slowly advanced forward.

Somewhere else, Captain Larson was still wondering around in a cloud of fog. He called out "Rizux!" There was no response. "Where is everybody? Wood!"

A few moments later, a voice behind him called out "Captain, is that you?"

Larson turned around towards the direction of the voice. He could faintly make out someone running toward him. The figure was short and had darker skin. Soon Larson realized it was DaiMon Kosf.

"Kosf, I'm over here!" he called out.

The two men met up with each other. Kosf took a moment to catch his breath from running.

"Are you alright?" asked Larson.

"I'm fine." Kosf assured him. "And you?"

Larson gave a nod. The two of them looked all around them at the surrounding fog. Kosf asked "Where do you think we are?"

"I'm not sure." Larson answered. "I don't even know how we got here."

"The last thing I remember was being led into the _Desperado _by my men." Kosf recalled. "Shortly after we were back on board, I blacked out."

"The same thing happened to me." said Larson.

After looking around for a few minutes more, Kosf said "Maybe we're dead."

"I don't think so." said Larson. "If we were dead, why would we still have our uniforms on? And why would you still be tired after running?"

"That's a good call." said Kosf. He looked around a little more and declared "One thing is for certain; this is definitely not the Divine Treasury."

"No, I'd say not." Larson agreed. "I'm pretty sure this is not Heaven either. We should probably look around and try to find something that indicates where we are."

The two men set off in one direction, keeping their eyes peeled and looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Back on the bridge, Casey was bringing the _Champion _closer and closer to the edge of the cloud. He announced "Four more miles and we'll be clear of the cloud anomaly."

"Are you sure we should still do this, Commander?" asked Tom.

"Yes, Admiral." Sanderson answered simply. "It's what the Captain ordered us to do."

Miral was taking some time to work on a tactical report. While she worked, she noticed an odd discrepancy in the sensors. One of the readings had changed since they had entered the cloud. She studied it closely, and suddenly, she looked over at Casey and yelled "Nick, pull up!"

Casey turned to her and said in confusion "What?"

"PULL UP!" shouted Miral.

Casey quickly readjusted the course heading and turned the _Champion _around. As the _Champion_ turned, the bottom nacelle came closer and closer to the edge of the cloud. At one point, it had come in contact with the barrier. The nacelle was "scraped" against the barrier, almost causing a breach in the hull.

Once Casey had turned the ship around, he turned to Miral. Both of them were breathing in deeply. "What was that about?" he demanded.

"I reexamined my readings on the energy barrier." Miral explained. "The barrier has become solid. Had we maintained our course, we would have smashed the _Champion _directly against it."

Halrinso examined the sensor readings from his station. He confirmed Miral's analysis: "Lieutenant Paris is correct. Every nanometer of the energy barrier has become completely solid. Nothing can pass through it now."

Sanderson leaned back in her chair and turned toward the Admirals. She told them "It looks like we're staying here after all."

Wood began entering a series of variables into the console by his chair. While working on them, he asserted the others "We should probably find some way to penetrate the barrier."

"A photon torpedo or a few phaser shots may handle the problem, Commander." Miral suggested.

"That thought did occur to me too, Miral," said Wood as he entered more data into his console, "but first I want to try a less aggressive approach."

"How?" said B'Elanna.

"By punching a hole in it." Wood stood up and went over to Nobema's station. She moved over to give him some room to stand close by. As he isolated a few categorical sequences on her workstation, he explained his plan: "I'm going to program the main deflector to produce a concentrated radion beam. I'm going to need Nobema, Miral, and Tymar to assist me."

The Operations, Tactical, and Security Officers gave Wood their full attention. He had Nobema readjust the main deflector to temporarily produce nothing but radion particles. Miral was given the assignment of bringing the radion particles into a concerted energy beam. Halrinso was tasked with calculating the area of the barrier they would focus the beam on.

Once all three of them had accomplished their tasks, Wood sat back down in his chair and told them "We'll start out small. Aim directly ahead of us and bring the radion beam to two meters in diameter. Fire when ready, Miral."

Miral locked onto the target coordinates and activated the deflector. The radion beam shot out from the main array and focused on the small spot Halrinso had marked as the starting point.

"Increase it at the rate of one foot per second." Sanderson ordered her. Miral input another sequence into a panel at her station and slowly the beam grew wider.

Emily Larson was in sickbay at her husband's side. Dr. Keller was on the other side, comparing notes he had taken on both the Captain and Kosf. She looked up at Keller and asked him "Is he going to die, Doctor?" as she gestured downwards at her husband.

"No." Keller answered confidently. "But I have no indication if or when he'll regain consciousness."

"I haven't told my children yet." Emily told Keller. "I hope I won't have to tell them that their father is in a coma."

Rizux walked up to Emily and told her "We promise that we will do everything we can to revive your husband, Emily."

"I know you will, Rizux." she said. "I don't doubt that for a moment."

Back on the bridge, Miral was gradually increasing power and size to the radion beam every moment. She pronounced the radion beam was also half the size needed for the _Champion _to pass through the barrier. However, the barrier itself was only growing weaker at a miniscule interval.

Miral was about to increase power to the beam when her console short-circuited in front of her. An electrical surge came up through the panel and came in contact with her hands. She fell out of her chair and hit the ground quite hard.

Her parents quickly moved over to her. B'Elanna tapped her combadge and said "Bridge to sickbay-"

"Mom, I'm fine!" Miral interrupted her mother as she and her father helped her up. "I just got a little shock, that's all."

"You're sure you're alright, Miral?" said Tom, worried for his daughter's safety.

"Yes, Dad, relax." Miral assured him, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

After convincing them that she was fine, Miral sat back at her station. Most of the icons on her station were still functional. She took a moment to observe the readings and after that she said "That's odd. The radion beam just gave out. Everything was running so smoothly."

Casey had looked over at her. When he turned back to his station, the viewscreen caught his eyes. He told the rest of the bridge crew "Look! The barrier! It's intact."

Sure enough, the radion beam had had virtually no effect on the energy barrier.

"Well, the radion beam is offline." Nobema informed the others. She looked over at Wood and asked him "Do you have another strategy, Commander?"

Wood sighed and told her "Yes, I do. We sit and wait."

"I agree with him." said Sanderson. "We should just wait for something to happen. Maybe then we'll know what else we should do."


	15. What Is Going On

Kosf and Larson were still elsewhere, essentially in a state of limbo. They had been searching through the fog-covered area for several minutes, but they had found nothing that would give them any idea of where they were.

Kosf came up with a bizarre theory. He looked up at Larson and said "Captain, could it be possible that we are in the cloud anomaly?"

Larson looked down at Kosf with an attentive expression on his face. "How could that be possible? We're walking on solid ground. At least I think we are…"

Both of them looked down at their feet. There was no ground beneath them. No visible one, at least. Seeing such a sight alarmed both of the men, but they slowly calmed down. Kosf got on one knee and felt the area directly beneath their feet. There was definitely something solid in place beneath them, but it was not visible.

"This is very peculiar." Kosf remarked. "How can it be that we can see everything that's closely around us, but we cannot see what's beneath us?"

Larson looked straight up. He added in "It's not the same thing in regards to what's above us."

They could see for almost thirty meters above their heads. Kosf stood back up on both feet. All of sudden, he stood perfectly still. Larson noticed he was not moving and asked him "What is it, DaiMon?"

Kosf looked off in the opposite direction. He took a step forward and said "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Larson asked the DaiMon.

"A low humming sound." Kosf vaguely described. "Listen very closely."

Larson listened, but the only sounds he could hear were the sounds of their breathing. He folded his arms and told Kosf "I don't know what you mean. I can't hear a-"

Suddenly, there was a very faint whisper in his ear. He turned around speedily; no one was there. However, the whisper was still there. It went to the pitch of a soft buzzing noise. Larson gazed over both his shoulders, but the only person there was Kosf. "I think I hear it, too."

The two men decided to follow the sound and try to pinpoint its point of origin.

In sickbay, Keller and Rizux were still working on a way to bring Larson and Kosf out of their comas. Keller had pondered on almost every type of revival medicine combo imaginable, but none of them would have sufficed.

"Dr. Keller, I have discovered something you should probably see." Rizux got the EMH's attention.

Keller approached the Crenaran and asked him "What have you found, Mr. Rizux?"

"A few moments ago, I examined DaiMon Kosf's cerebral cortex, and these are the results the exam came up with." Rizux brought up a neurogenic diagnostic of Kosf's brain on the monitor in-between Kosf and Larson's bio-beds. This diagnostic presented all of his brain activity on an electromagnetic level. Rizux magnified one part of the screen and told Keller "As you know, this part of the brain is just by the areas where awareness and thought-processing are controlled. There is a discerning buildup of neural energy that covers this entire section of Kosf's brain."

Keller took a moment to examine the diagram, and he concurred with Rizux's assessment, telling him "You're right; it is dissimilar to a typical brain wave, even for the Ferengi."

"That's not all." Rizux put the monitor in split-screen mode and brought up a second neurogenic diagnostic. Larson's brain was the subject of this one. "Just now, I ran the same scans on Captain Larson's brain and these are the results. Look at the same place I pointed out.

"I believe that a type of telepathic link has been formed between Captain Larson and DaiMon Kosf." Rizux concluded. "Even though they are unconscious, they are both undergoing an experience in their minds."

"That structure down on that planetoid must be responsible for this." Keller concluded. "We better report this to the bridge crew."

Back on the bridge, the staff was taking some time to study the energy barrier using all the information that had collected on it before and after it had become solid. Tom and B'Elanna were not on the bridge at that time, but everybody else was. Teren and Gralem were contributing what they remembered from the planet to the studying process. Sanderson and Wood received the report from sickbay at the consoles next to their seats. They found the news of that report to be rather unsettling, but they already had too much to worry about to bring it to their attention.

"Status." Sanderson requested from the other officers.

"I've searched all throughout the sensor logs," Miral told Sanderson, "but I still can't ascertain what could have precipitated the increase in the barrier's power."

"Wait, here's something that may help us out." Nobema proclaimed. "I have been able to conclude that the energy barrier did not become completely solid all at one moment. The solidifying process happened at three different intervals. At each interval, the barrier's intensity was increased by a third."

"See if you can establish the precise times when the intervals occurred." Sanderson ordered the Operations Officer.

"I already have." Nobema informed the First Officer. "Using the data from Miral's scanners, I've been able to calculate the precise moments when the three energy fluxes occurred. Here, I'll transfer my readings to the command consoles."

Wood studied the information on his console, and compared it to Dr. Rizux's report.

"That's strange." he commented. Everyone turned to him. He elucidated "According to that and Dr. Rizux's reports, the first time when the energy barrier increased its strength was the exact moment when that structure shocked DaiMon Kosf and Captain Larson. The second time was when DaiMon Kosf lost consciousness, and the third time was when Captain Larson lost consciousness. After the third interval, the barrier became completely solid."

No one spoke right away. After a little time, Sanderson came up with a rather disturbing theory: "I'm beginning to think that what happened to DaiMon Kosf and the Captain down on that planet was not an accident."

Everyone else was equally disturbed by this theory, but they had no genuine evidence that could be used to counter it.

"We should go down there and study that structure." said Halrinso at last. "I could lead a security team."

"It's too risky, Lieutenant." said Sanderson. "If we are not carefully, more of us can end up like Kosf and the Captain."

"I'm willing to take that risk." said Halrinso.

"It won't do the Captain any good if more of us were to become disabled." Sanderson argued. "My decision is final on this matter, Mr. Halrinso."

"If it weren't for Captain Larson, you wouldn't even be on this ship right now." Halrinso tensely reminded her. "Maybe you should just go back to the caves of Kinnalia V when this is all over."

At that last statement, Wood jumped out of his chair and stood up straight, glaring at Halrinso. He said solemnly "Mr. Halrinso, you will respect Commander Sanderson or I will have you removed from the bridge."

The two men glared at each other for a few moments, and finally Halrinso said "Whatever you say, Commander Wood."

Wood sat back down in his chair. He could not believe that someone as disciplined as Halrinso could make such a rude comment to a superior officer.

Sanderson announced "While we're here, we should probably take some time to search for the _Dionysius_. That is the reason why we came here in the first place. Nobema, Miral, start scanning for Federation signatures on all frequencies."

The Operations and Tactical Officers went to work on their new task.

Wood looked over at Commander Sanderson. He could easily tell that Halrinso's snappy remark had bothered her. He leaned over near her and whispered "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." she replied. "But I'm beginning to think that Lieutenant Halrinso may actually have a point. Maybe I'm not fit to be the Executive Officer of a starship."

"No, he is totally out of line." Wood asserted Sanderson. "You are following the Captain's orders by staying off that planet. Halrinso's first responsibility goes to the crew; yours goes to the ship. He's just being your typical security guard."

Sanderson turned to Wood and asked him "As ship's Counselor, doesn't your first responsibility go to the crew as well?"

"Of course it does. But as Second Officer, my first responsibility is to the ship… and to you."

"Me?"

"Regulation 341-F specifically states that I have to always show you support when you're in command. I intend to follow that regulation to the best of my ability."

"I'm still not sure I will stay on board this ship."

"Why not?"

"I want the approval of the entire senior staff." Sanderson made clear to Wood. "I'd feel out of place if even one member of the senior staff resents my authority."

"In that case, I promise you that you'll get the approval of the entire senior staff." he assured her.

"But what about Halrinso?" she asked.

"I'll speak with Halrinso later." Wood promised her. "I'll convince him to be more respectful to you. If he decides not to be more respectful, I'll convince the Captain to revoke his position as Third Officer."

Sanderson gave Wood an appreciative grin. She stood up and told him "I'm going to speak with Lieutenant Marquez. I have another idea for how we can break through the barrier. Let me know if anything of significant happens."

Wood nodded and watched as the First Officer left the bridge.

Back in Kosf and Larson's… thoughts, so to speak, the humming whisper-like sound had become slightly louder and a bit easier to make out. But both of the two men still could not understand what was being said.

"I'm noticing a pattern in this humming sound." Larson informed Kosf. "It would appear that one moment there is a series of buzzes; the next moment, there is a series of clicks; then finally, there is another series of buzzes. After that, the first set of buzzes comes back."

Kosf presented another idea: "Do you remember when you had Ensign Nobema scan for lifesigns when we first entered the cloud?"

"Yes, and she said that there were approximately 1.2 billion of them." Larson recalled. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, if this place **is **the cloud, then perhaps what we are hearing is the lifeforms trying to communicate with us." Kosf theorized

"You know what?" said Larson. "That's a very authentic hypothesis. If it is correct, we should try to decipher whatever they are telling us. It may provide us with some insight about what is happening."

"I'm hoping that it will clarify a few details, too." said Kosf.

The two men went to work attempting to decipher the sounds they heard.

Back on the _Champion_, Marquez was down in main engineering, running his daily diagnostic of the warp drive. While he was working, Pearson came over and asked to speak with him.

"What would you like to discuss, Lieutenant?" Marquez asked his assistant.

"Sir, I just wanted you to know that the rest of the Engineering crew and I have decided to stop pressuring you to become Chief Engineer." Pearson told him. "We've come to accept that the decision is yours to make, not ours."

"I am grateful that you decided that, Mr. Pearson," said Marquez, "but you're too late; I have already made my decision. As soon as Captain Larson is revived, I am going to notify him about it."

"What have you decided, sir?" Pearson was very curious.

Marquez simply smirked and told him "You'll just have to wait and see."

At that moment, Commander Sanderson entered the room. She went over to Marquez and spoke with him. She explained her new strategy: "I think that we can break through that energy barrier if we arm a photon torpedo with one of the matter/antimatter canisters. Do we have one to spare?"

"Oh, we have plenty, Commander." Marquez assured her. "The canisters come in various sizes, though. Which one would you like?"

"I suppose that we'll have to go with the largest of the three sizes." Sanderson decided. "The energy barrier is even stronger than we thought, so we'll need a very large explosion if we plan on breaking through it."

Marquez ordered two of his men to extract one of the surplus matter/antimatter canisters from the reactor and prepare to transfer it to the primary missiles bay.

While the two men retrieved the canister, the acting Executive Officer and the acting Chief Engineer took some time to talk.

"How have you been doing on this ship for the past few days?" Sanderson asked Marquez.

"I've been very busy." he told her. "I've forgotten how much work there is to do on a starship. But I've also forgotten how much fun it is. I haven't had this much fun since my days on the _Circinus_."

"What about the time you spent constructing this ship at Utopia Planitia?" asked Sanderson.

"Well, those were fun, in a way." said Marquez. "But it just can't beat serving on board a starship. I hope you'll discover that too."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that you are also apprehensive about staying on board this ship." said Marquez. "I understand your reasons better than my own. But I've decided that I'm not going to let anyone else make my decisions for me. So I made it this morning. You'll find out what it is later."

Sanderson grinned. "Whatever your decision is, I hope you will be content with it."

"I'm sure I will be, Commander." Marquez affirmed. "I'm sure I will be."

Right then, the two crewmen reappeared with a large matter/antimatter canister. After confirming that the seal and the containment field were stable, Sanderson had them move it to the primary missile bay. As the two men left, Sanderson asked Marquez "About how long do you think it will take them to arm the torpedo with the canister?"

He shrugged and told her "It could be a few hours. These types of processes require grace, patience, and carefulness."

"Well, keep me apprised of their progress." Sanderson left Marquez to his work. She left main engineering and headed for the turbolift.

After waiting on it for a few minutes, it opened up. Sanderson moved to step in, but she did not realize that Halrinso was coming out at the same time. The two of them accidentally collided with each other, but managed to stay on their feet.

"I'm sorry about that, Lieutenant." Sanderson told him as she stood up straight.

"No, I apologize, Commander." Halrinso stated. "I should have looked where I was going before I left the turbolift."

Both of them spontaneously started to chuckle at their misdemeanor. After a moment, Sanderson asked Halrinso where he was off to. He told her that he was on his way to check up on the security down on main engineering. But Sanderson could tell that that was not the reason. Finally, he came forth with the real reason.

"Commander, I actually came here down to speak with you." Halrinso told Sanderson. "I wanted you to know that I am very, very sorry for what I told you earlier. I was way out of line."

"You do have the right to state your opinion, Lieutenant." Sanderson told the Bolian security guard.

"But I don't have any right to insult you!" Halrinso pointed out. "In fact, I have demonstrated behavior unbecoming to a Starfleet officer. As the ship's Third Officer, I should be setting an example for the rest of the crew. I've been doing a terrible job of that ever since you came on board."

"I'm sorry that my presence aboard this ship seems somewhat awkward to you, Mr. Halrinso," said Sanderson, "but I want you to know that I admire you for how seriously you take your job and Starfleet regulations."

"Even so, I should not be so biased." said Halrinso. "You really are XO material, Commander. It's taken me days to finally realize that."

"You have no idea how happy that makes me feel." she told him.

"And, Commander, if you decide to stay on board…" Halrinso took a long pause, but finished quickly, "I will not be ashamed to serve on the same ship with you. In fact, I will be supportive of your decisions."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Sanderson grinned. Halrinso grinned back at her. That was the first time she had seen him grin. Even though he may have appeared unfriendly, Halrinso had a very pleasant smile that expressed kind emotions as well as any other smile.

"Well, I'd better double check the security on this deck." Halrinso walked down the corridor and called over his shoulder "I'll see you on the bridge later!"

Sanderson waved to Halrinso and stepped into the turbolift. She said "Bridge." in a gleeful tone.

Note: I apologize how everything seemed to happen so fast in this chapter; I'm just looking forward to posting the resolution of the story (It's a riveting ending). After this, there will be two or three more chapters, then the story will be finished. Please review and say what you like about this story. I won't finish this story until at least six people have reviewed it (not including the two who already have). In each review, I'd like to know your favorite character and your favorite chapter. If you see room for improvement, I'd be happy to listen to any advise anybody may have.


	16. The Truth Starts To Unfold

Larson and Kosf were still working on a way to decipher the humming sounds they were hearing all around them. There was no doubt in either of them that what they were hearing was, in fact, some complex language. They had managed to start to make some progress in comprehending the first part of it.

"I believe that what we are hearing is meant to be a form of communication." Larson said. "I'm starting to identify its grammar. It's starting to sound more and more like a complex code."

"I am becoming very familiar with it, too." said Kosf. "I am inclined to believe that the first word is something along the lines of… 'Listen.'"

"Not much help in discovering that." commented Larson. "But I think I've got it; a high-pitched buzz with a sharp snap represents an 'a'; a low-pitched buzz with a flat note represents a 'b;' a middle-pitched buzz with a twist halfway through represents a 'c;' and so on and so forth."

"This would be so much easier if we could write down the words as we hear them." said Kosf.

"I couldn't agree with you more." said Larson. "But for now, we'll have to make do with our memories."

The Federation Captain and the Ferengi DaiMon listened closely to the humming sounds as they came. Every time the buzz-click-buzz pattern started over, they had managed to decipher a little more of it. Shortly after this, they both discovered that they did not even have to speak to notify each other what progress they had made in deciphering the code. They were sharing information with each other through their own thoughts.

Commander Sanderson had just arrived back on the bridge of the _Champion_. She walked over to her chair and sat down in it. Wood had been studying the latest reports on the energy barrier when Sanderson sat down. He looked over at her. She was smiling at him.

"You seem to have had your spirits raised, Commander." he remarked as he resumed studying the reports.

"Patrick, I want to thank you for speaking to Lieutenant Halrinso for me." she told the Second Officer.

"What do you mean, Commander?" he turned back to Sanderson.

"He just came and apologized for what he said earlier." Sanderson enlightened him. "He also apologized for his behavior towards me for the past few days. Whatever you told him, it certainly worked."

"Commander, I have no idea what you're talking about." Wood was honestly lost.

"You said you would talk to him about his treatment of me, remember?" Sanderson could not understand how Wood could be so perplexed, especially with an IQ such as his own.

"Oh, that!" Wood chuckled. "I haven't even spoken to him about that yet. I meant to speak to him just before he left the bridge, but that's when Ensign Nobema had finished the latest report on the energy barrier."

Sanderson was stunned. "You mean you didn't speak a word to him?"

"Not a one." Wood confirmed her suspicions. "Whatever Mr. Halrinso told you, it must have been his own words and not words I put into his mouth."

Sanderson was very surprised to hear this from Wood. But learning this only made her smile wider. Lieutenant Halrinso had meant every word he had told her!

Hopkins announced "Commander, I'm getting a progress report from Lieutenant Marquez in the torpedo room. He says that the matter/antimatter torpedo will be ready within one hour. He'll be sending in progress reports every fifteen minutes."

"Tell him we've acknowledged his report, Ensign." Sanderson ordered the young linguistics expert.

Hopkins nodded and returned a message to the torpedo room.

Down in sickbay, Tom and B'Elanna were checking up on Larson and Kosf. They were the only two visitors that Keller had allowed to come into sickbay. He had been working nonstop for over an hour to find an appropriate way of treating his two patients.

While Tom and B'Elanna stood near the bio-beds, Keller had been monitoring the energy buildup in Kosf and Larson's brains. Over the past few hours, the energy had been increasing at a microscopic rate, but at that point it was increasing at a higher rate.

"If I were to take a guess," said Keller, "I would say that DaiMon Kosf and the Captain are… collaborating on something."

"What do you mean by 'collaborating?'" asked B'Elanna.

"It's as if their telepathic link is allowing them to share information with each other." Keller clarified. "That buildup of neural energy has expanded all the way to the parts of their brains that control language adroitness."

"Language adroitness?" said Rizux. "What possible use would they have for that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." said Keller. "But they are using it more than the rest of their brains right now."

"Do you think they are trying to learn a new language?" speculated Tom.

"It's certainly a possibility." Keller agreed with him. "It's a rather rash one, but there is enough going on in their brains to establish that as a very likely prospect."

Nearly fifty minutes later, Marquez contacted the bridge and gave Commander Sanderson the news that the missile was ready to be used. However, the crewmen that were managing the missile needed another ten minutes to arm it. Sanderson ordered them to get it armed as quickly as they could, but to be mindful of their work at the same time.

"I'll need you up here on the bridge when we launch the torpedo, Mr. Marquez." Halrinso said over the comline. He had just returned to his post on the bridge and was monitoring the safety grid around the matter/antimatter from there.

"I'll be right up there, Mr. Halrinso." Marquez cut the line and made his way up to the bridge.

As he made his way up, Sanderson announced to the entire bridge crew "We'll be leaving this cloud as quickly as possible."

"But what about the _Dionysius_?" asked Lieutenant Paris. "We still haven't found it."

"We'll have to mark the _Dionysius _as lost in action." Sanderson replied resentfully. "We haven't managed to find it in the time we've been here. Therefore, it would be pointless to search around for something that is not there."

The bridge crew saw the logic in the Commander's statement. Marquez soon arrived on the bridge and stood near Halrinso at his station.

Teren and Gralem were also on the bridge at that time. They wanted to observe the effect of a matter/antimatter torpedo on an artificial forcefield. They believed that acquiring such knowledge would help them to earn more profit in the future.

In the meantime, Kosf and Larson were making substantial progress deciphering the humming sound. They had determined that all the "buzzes" represented letters and all the "clicks" represented numbers. They were unsure what the numbers were supposed to indicate, but as they decrypted the letters, the syntax was becoming clearer and clearer.

Just twenty-five minutes after the humming sound had started, Kosf and Larson had managed to decipher the first third of it. There was no doubt to either of them now; the sound was definitely a message. But the senders of the message and its content were yet to be discovered.

On the bridge, Marquez told Sanderson "Three minutes until the missile is armed, Commander."

"Good work, Lieutenant." said Sanderson. "Mr. Halrinso, bring the ship to yellow alert."

"Yellow alert, ma'am." Halrinso pressed a few keys, causing the lights all over the ship to dim by about ten percent. A yellow light started flashing every three seconds in every room on the ship, with an alarm to go with each one.

Sanderson thought of how in just three more minutes, the ship would finally be out of that anomaly. Secretly, the Commander was looking forward to leaving the cloud. The forcefield in place around the phenomenon was giving her a feeling of being trapped. The last time she had had such a feeling as "being trapped" was ten years earlier. And that event that took place ten years earlier was one she did not want to revisit.

Larson and Kosf, in the meantime, had finally achieved success. They had fully fathomed both the code and the message.

"I think I know the entire message now!" Larson proclaimed proudly.

"So do I!" said Kosf.

"Unfortunately, I don't know what good knowing it will do us." said Larson.

It was then that Kosf looked up in the air. He pointed upwards and yelled "Captain, look!"

Larson turned around and saw what had captured Kosf's attention. The fog was starting to dissolve around them.

Both of them looked down at their feet. The fog was starting to dissolve there, too. Both of them were somewhat intimidated by the sight. It was almost as if the very ground beneath their feet was dissolving.

After another minute, all the fog around them had dissolved. They were surrounded by darkness. Abruptly after this, they underwent an experience so mysterious that words cannot describe what it was like.

A moment later, Larson and Kosf opened their eyes in sickbay. They speedily sat up straight in a synchronized manner. Tom, B'Elanna, Rizux, and Keller had their backs turned to them at that moment. Keller was the first to turn around. He saw Larson sitting up straight.

"Captain, you're awake!" the holographic physician exclaimed happily. Rizux and the two admirals swerved around to see that Keller was correct. All three of them felt a wave of relief pass through them.

"What's happening?" Larson asked, looking around in a state of bewilderment. "And why are we at yellow alert?"

"We're still in the cloud anomaly." Rizux explained. "The barrier around it has become solid. Commander Sanderson came up with a brilliant solution of arming a torpedo with a matter/antimatter canister. We're about to launch it."

"What?" Larson felt a deep rush of anxiety come to him. He hopped off the bio-bed and said "DaiMon, let's go!"

Kosf jumped off his bio-bed and the two of them headed for the exit.

Keller walked after them and said "Captain, I must insist that you and DaiMon Kosf-"

"Sorry, Doctor, but we don't have time for that now!" Larson called as he and Kosf ran out the door.

Tom and B'Elanna just looked at each other in confusion. Rizux told them and Keller "Come on, we should follow them!" Then the four of them left sickbay and went after the DaiMon and the Captain.

Larson and Kosf ran as fast as they could to the turbolift. As they ran, Mike slammed the palm of his hand on his combadge and yelled into it "Larson to Sanderson!"

Everyone on the bridge at that moment stopped what they were doing. They turned to Commander Sanderson, who was just as surprised as any of them.

"Captain, is that you?" Sanderson said hopefully.

"Yes, but that's not the key issue right now." Larson answered. "Do not launch that torpedo!"

"What?" said Sanderson.

"Do not launch that torpedo!" Larson repeated. "It is imperative that you don't! Kosf and I are on our way to the bridge. We'll explain once we're there!"

Sanderson simply said "Yes, sir" over the line. She turned to Marquez and gave him a signal. He notified the crewmen in the missile room to deactivate the warhead immediately. They did and waited for further orders.

About two minutes later, Larson and Kosf arrived on the bridge via the turbolift. Ignoring everyone's surprise and concerned questions, Larson walked around to his chair and started typed in a set of coordinates into the console to the chair's left. While he did, he said "Mr. Casey, bring the _Champion _to these coordinates. But advance very slowly."

Casey examined the coordinates. He was a bit confused; they led to nowhere in the cloud that stood out from the rest. He turned to Larson and said "Sir?"

Larson continued to type data into his console. He just looked at Casey from out of the corner of his eye and said "That's an order, Lieutenant!"

Casey turned back to his station and said "Yes, sir" as he entered the specified coordinates into the navigations array. He took the controls on the helm and the _Champion _proceeded to the specified coordinates at one-quarter impulse power.

While the _Champion _made its way to its destination, Larson gave out another order. This one he directed at Ensign Hopkins. He ordered "Cheryl, download a copy of the _Champion_'s database onto a single computer chip."

"Right away, Captain," said Hopkins, "but, if I may ask, what for?"

"There's no time to explain right now." said Larson. "I just need the ship's database to be downloaded as quickly as possible."

Hopkins nodded and pulled out a blank computer chip from her pocket (It was standard procedure for communications officers to carry blank chips for ready use at all times). She hooked it into an access port at her station and started downloading the ship's database document by document. Everything was being downloaded; archives, regulations, strategic and tactical protocols, all matter of ship's logs, crew manifest- everything.

"Excuse me, Ensign Hopkins," Kosf approached the communications officer, "I need you to download a copy of my vessel's database onto a blank chip, too. We downloaded the _Beraalam_'s database into the ship shortly before we headed out here; you can access it from my quarters."

Hopkins nodded, took a second chip out of her pocket, hooked it up with another access port, and downloaded the database from the _Beraalam_.

"Thank you very much, Ensign." said Kosf as he went to stand with Teren and Gralem.

Just as the databases of both ships finished downloading, the _Champion _had arrived at the coordinates Larson had given Casey. Rizux, Keller, Tom, and B'Elanna had arrived on the bridge, too. Larson got out of his chair and walked over to the operations station.

"Excuse me, Ensign." he said politely but with haste. Nobema moved over to make room for him. He began to enter a complex set of variables into the mainframe and transferred them to the communications station. Nobema was as confused as everybody else by his actions. She asked him "Captain, what are you doing?"

"I'm programming the databases of both the _Beraalam _and the _Champion_ to a certain frequency to make a type of transmission." Larson explained.

"Transmission?" said Wood. "What sort of transmission?"

Larson walked over to his chair and sat back down in it. He turned to Wood and grinned, telling him "Just wait and see, Mr. Wood."

Wood turned his attention towards the viewscreen. Larson sat up and ordered Hopkins to begin transmitting the databases at the frequency he had input at the operations station to the coordinates he had given Casey. She began doing just that.

"Captain, there's actually somebody receiving this data on the other end." Hopkins reported, noticing a tell-tale indication of activity going on around the coordinates.

"Excellent." Kosf looked over at Larson and told him "It looks as if they were telling the truth the whole time."

"What does he mean- who was telling the truth, sir?" Sanderson asked the Captain.

"The Divenji." Larson answered. "That's the name of their species."

"Who are the Divenji?" asked Wood.

"They're the 1.2 billion lifeforms that Ensign Nobema detected when we first entered this anomaly." Larson answered. "They exist all around us."

"How do they do that, Captain?" Miral asked Larson.

"And how do you know this?" Rizux inquired.

"It will make more sense if I answer Rizux's question first." Larson explained "Kosf and I went into a comatose state of mind. We were… on one of their ships."

"Their ships, sir?" said Halrinso.

"All this time, we've believed that everything around us is simply one large cloud." Larson elucidated. "But it's really millions of starships."

"Starships?" said Keller.

"Maybe not starships in the way we would classify them," Larson clarified, "but the Divenji are a non-corporeal species. At least they have been for the past forty thousand millennia. They live in the 'clouds' as we live on starships."

"So what did they do when you were on one of their ships?" inquired Marquez.

"Well, it still just looked like an enormous cluster of fog to us." said Larson. "But after Kosf and I found each other, we started hearing an odd sort of humming sound. It didn't take us long to realize that the sound was some type of message. Through collaboration, we managed to decipher the message. We learned much about the Divenji, and they requested that we provided them with a copy of our ship's databases so that they could study our race."

"Are you sure that is wise, sir?" said Halrinso. "Just giving them all the information we have on our race to another race that we barely know- yet alone trust- seems a bit injudicious to me."

"Your concern is noted, Lieutenant." said Larson. "But Kosf and I trust these people dearly. If you had gone through the same thing he and I went through, you would trust them in an equal manner."

Ten minutes later, Hopkins had finished transmitting both of the databases. Miral looked over at the Captain and asked "What do we do now, sir?"

"Turn around and look at the viewscreen, Lieutenant." he ordered her. Paris turned back to her front and saw what Larson was referring to. A starship of unknown design was materializing in front of them. Everybody took a moment to gaze at the ship. It was like none they had ever seen before, and about half the size of the _Champion_.

"Captain, we're being hailed." Hopkins announced.

"On screen."

Hopkins switched the viewscreen to ship-to-ship mode. On the other end, a humanoid figure appeared. He was rather tall; slightly taller than the average Human. He had multiple ridges running across his body and his face. His skin was the color of a darkish pink.

Larson stood up and said "I am Captain Michael Larson of the Federation Starship _Champion_." Kosf walked over to him, and introduced himself as Larson had done: "And I am DaiMon Kosf of the Ferengi Freighter _Beraalam_."

The two of them gazed at the figure on the viewscreen and Larson presumed "You must be Thar."

"You are correct, Captain." said the strange alien man. "I am Monarch Thar, commanding officer of the Divenji flagship _Liddoveta_ and supreme ruler of the Divenji Coalition. And on behalf of the Coalition, I congratulate both you and DaiMon Kosf; your United Federation of Planets and Ferengi Alliance are the first two groups in history that have passed our test."

Note: I own Thar, the _Liddoveta_, and the Divenji, as well as the Divenji Coalition.


	17. The End of The Humble Beginnings

"Captain," Sanderson whispered, "what does he mean? What test?"

"All the events that took place in here were part of a test from the start, Commander Sanderson." Thar answered her.

"How do you know my name?" asked the Commander.

"We have the database of your entire ship now." explained Thar. "You are sitting in the chair designated for the First Officer, whose name is Ashley Sanderson. You have that position and you hold the rank of Commander."

"That is true, Monarch." Sanderson nodded. "Now, could you please explain this test?"

"Of course I will." said Thar. "But first it would probably be helpful if I explain the history of our species first."

Thar went into a long, detailed explanation of the history of his race. Over fifty million years earlier, they had existed as humanoids. Their homeworld was the planet at the center of the cloud. Back then, the total population of their species only amounted to one million. They looked exactly as they did in humanoid form back then as they did now. Like any civilization, they made lots of progress over the course of their existence. However, the Divenji's most significant progress would not be technological, but instead evolutionary.

When the Divenji reached what would be classified on Earth as the Renaissance, they had already developed their own starships, but they could not fly at warp yet. Shortly after this, they began to evolve in a most bizarre manner. Their molecular formulas were constantly in a state of flux. One moment, they would be standing up straight on both legs; the next, they were unsure if they were standing or floating, as their legs would turn transparent and completely numb.

None of the scientists could explain what was going on, but they were able to determine that what was happening was totally a natural occurrence.

Finally, they decided that they had to do something to even out their evolution cycle. There was no way to prevent the evolutionary cycle from happening, so they were forced to resort to the next best solution: speeding the process up.

Over the next century, they constructed the reactor that had been found in the caves by the away team. The reactor was built to hit each and every one of the Divenji with a powerful wave of electrical energy. This energy would greatly affect the genes in their biology and allow their anatomy to quicken its evolutionary pace. However, they soon discovered that the planet was inadequate for sustaining them any longer. They needed a new sort of habitat, and they needed it soon.

Fortunately, their technology could be used further to manipulate and alter the molecular formulas of their starships in the same manner. They found that the most ideal type of environment for them to live in was one based upon hydrogen and oxygen. They found no environment better suited for this than clouds. Using the reactor, they converted all their starships into cloud-like habitats.

The reactor doubled as a forcefield generator. It extended for dozens of miles around the planet. This allowed the Divenji ships to leave the planet's atmosphere. Ever since then, they had been living around the planet in their habitats.

Overtime, the Divenji reproduced more and more each year. They eventually added three zeros to their original population over the eons in their new living environment. The number of starships totaled at over a million. Simply speaking, the Divenji thrived in the clouds.

A much darker part of their history came after this. Starting at about ten million years earlier, the cloud anomaly had become an object of interest to a number of cultures. The majority of the cultures were hostile. Several races tried to invade the cloud, annex it for territorial expansion, some even tried to destroy it. But the Divenji were very resourceful. They managed to destroy all the vessels that were sent to attack them. Over the course of time, most cultures had lost interest in the cloud or were intimidated by it.

Even so, these attacks made the Divenji more wary of other races. So they devised a way to test them in order to learn their intentions.

They had managed to come up with technology that would allow them to shift between humanoid and non-corporeal entities. That was how the _Liddoveta _was able to materialize in front of them. But all the same, they had grown fond of existing in the clouds.

In regards to their plans to discover the intentions of all visiting races, they made a carefully balanced test. Somehow, they would get the commanding officers of every vessel that entered the region down onto the planet and shock them with the structure. Once the commanding officers were in comas, their consciousness would be brought aboard the _Liddoveta_. They would not be completely there, in a sense. While their consciousness would be on the _Liddoveta_, their physical forms would be elsewhere. For a short length of time, the body and the soul would be partially separated from each other.

There, the Divenji and their vessels would still be invisible, but the Divenji could speak to the commanding officers in their native language. The message was delivered to them in a very complex manner. The Divenji would use a sort of device that transmitted a message directly to a person's cerebral cortex. The message was received there and interpreted via the person's psychological state of mind. To a hostile race, it sounded like nothing but white noise. There was no hope for them to decode the message. If the Divenji determined the commanding officer and his entire race to be hostile, they destroyed their ship and killed all aboard it.

Only truly peaceful people could decipher the message they had sent Kosf and Larson. The Ferengi ships that had first encountered the cloud had very uncivilized and egocentric crews. All of them were killed. But now the Divenji discovered that the Ferengi had finally become a peaceful race.

Getting back to the test, the commanding officers of the visiting vessels would prove that they and their races were friendly by carrying out the instructions given to them in the message. The message itself contained a small amount of information about the Divenji and instructions for the officers for how they could prove themselves peaceful. The message itself involved moving to a set of coordinates and transmitting the database of their ship at those said coordinates. Once they did that, they would have proven themselves to be peaceful.

What the bridge crew of the _Champion_ had just been told was a remarkable amount of information to take in all at once. But they got the gist of Thar's explanation.

When he was done with his explanation, Thar looked away from the screen and made a gesture towards one of his men. A few seconds later, a large amount of data was being entered into the _Champion_'s databanks.

"What are you doing?" asked Larson

"I'm downloading a copy of all the information about our species into your ship's database." said Thar. "You may go back to the Federation and tell them that we are a peaceful people."

"Perhaps you would like to come with us yourselves?" offered Larson.

"Alas, we cannot leave this region of space." said Thar. "Our starships are too fragile to survive in the vacuum of space. We can only exist in this state temporarily. The energy barrier is around us so that we may maintain structural integrity."

"We understand completely." said Larson. "But there is one thing I would like to ask you about."

"Go right ahead." said Thar.

"Many days ago, one of our starships came through this region." Larson told the Monarch. "It was the USS _Dionysius_. It was on a surveillance mission in this sector of space when it disappeared. We were able to determine that it disappeared inside this cloud. Where is it now?"

Thar waited a moment before answering. He told Larson "The _Dionysius _is still here. We probed the mind of its Captain as well. But the Captain of that ship is a Crenaran; his intentions were rather ambiguous. It was unclear if he was peaceful or hostile. So we had his ship and crew placed in stasis. We decided to wait until the next Federation starship came along to determine if the _Dionysius _was run by peaceful or hostile people. Now we see that it is indeed run by peaceful people."

"May we have our people and ship back?" asked Larson.

Thar made another gesture towards the same crewman.

"Captain, something is materializing at the starboard side of the bridge." Nobema announced, examining her workstation.

"Confirmed." said Halrinso. "It's the _Dionysius_."

"The crew will be awake in about an hour." said Thar. "You can explain everything to them then. You will find that the energy barrier has been returned to its previous level of solidity. You and the _Dionysius _may leave whenever you wish."

"I'm not saying that you haven't been a cordial host," said Larson humorously, "but we would prefer to leave now."

Thar nodded and said "We wish you safe travels on your future journeys, Captain Larson. You are the leader of a fine ship with a spectacular crew managing it."

Larson nodded back. Then the ship-to-ship connection was severed and the _Liddoveta _faded into the rest of the cloud anomaly.

Everyone on the bridge was amazed by the Divenji and what they had just learned about them. There was silence for a long time on the bridge. Finally, Casey turned to Larson and asked him "What are your orders, sir?"

Larson just looked at the young helmsman, and responded to his question with "Let's get out of here, Lieutenant."

The _Champion _used a tractor beam to pull the _Dionysius _out of the cloud. Once they were a tenth of a light-year away, they waited until the crew of the _Dionysius _was revived. Once they had regained consciousness, there was a long and monotonous explanation given to the senior staff of the _Dionysius_ about what they had just experienced. As soon as everything was cleared up, the two starships began making their way back to Ferengi space.

Their plan for when they returned to Ferengi space was laid out neatly. They would rendezvous with the _Beraalam _and transport Kosf, Teren, and Gralem back aboard the freighter. Then Admirals Tom and B'Elanna Paris would be transported to the _Dionysius_, which would be returning to Earth right afterwards. After this, the _Champion _would officially be on its own with Larson as the highest ranking officer on board.

On their way back to Ferengi space, Larson sat in his ready room documenting the Divenji into the databanks. He also made his own list called "List of species I have made first contact with." The Divenji went right at the top. Just as he was entering a personal log into the mainframe, there was a beep at the door. He looked up at it and called out "Come in!"

It was Lieutenant Marquez. He entered with a grin on his face. Larson said "Ah, Seth! How are you doing?"

Marquez stood up straight and said "Captain, there's something I wish to discuss with you."

"Sit down." Larson gestured to one of the chairs in front of the desk. Marquez moved over to one of them and sat down. After he had gotten comfortable, Larson asked "What can I do for you?"

Marquez grinned again and told Larson "I want to address that offer you gave me when you first spoke to me in this room."

"What about it?" inquired Larson.

"I've decided to accept your offer, sir." Marquez answered. "I want to stay on board and be your Chief Engineer."

Larson brought a grin on his face to match Marquez's. "I'm so glad to hear you say that, Lieutenant. What made you change your mind?"

"I've discovered that not only does this ship need me," said Marquez, "but I need the ship. On this ship, I can do great things in my life, and I am given the assurance that people need me to help them. I've also realized that Diana will be protected from danger on this ship, and that you and everyone else can be entrusted with the responsibilities of keeping each other safe. "

"As long as I sit in this ship's Captain's chair, your daughter and everyone else on board will be kept safe, Mr. Marquez." Larson promised.

Marquez stood up, grinned, and said "I believe you, sir."

Marquez left the room, leaving Larson alone once again. He put down his log recording device and accessed the crew manifest on his computer console. He opened the file marked Chief Engineer and typed in Seth Marquez under the top icon.

After exiting from that, he looked through the crew manifest. The only file that still had no name under it was the First Officer. Upon seeing that, Larson sighed to himself and thought _I guess it's only a matter of time, now_.

A few days later, the _Dionysius _and the _Champion _arrived at the Ferengi border. The _Beraalam _was already there waiting for them.

Larson, Sanderson, Wood, and the Admirals were assembled in the transporter room. The three Ferengi were standing on the transporter pad, waiting for Nobema to beam them to the _Beraalam_. Just before she did, Kosf told Larson "This has been a most… eventful mission, Captain. I myself actually enjoyed it."

Larson nodded at the Ferengi and told him "So did I, DaiMon." He looked at Nobema and told her "Energize."

The three Ferengi were beamed back to their freighter. Tom and B'Elanna stepped on the transporter pad after they had. Gazing at both of them with respect and admiration, Larson saluted them. They returned the salute. B'Elanna stated "You've got a marvelous ship here, Mike."

Tom acquiesced with B'Elanna, and told Larson "Treat her well and you just might be remembered as the Captain of the century."

Larson gave them both an approving nod. He said "Good-bye" and they both disappeared in blue beam of light.

"The Admirals are on board the _Dionysius_, sir." said Nobema.

"Thank you, Ensign." said Larson. He turned to Wood and told him "I want the senior staff assembled on the bridge in exactly one hour."

Wood assured him "You can count on me, sir."

Larson left the room. Sanderson at first just watched him. But then she went after him and asked "Captain, do you have a moment?"

"Of course, Commander." said Larson.

"I've been thinking about that offer you presented." Sanderson told him. "And I've had plenty of time to think about my answer. Now I've finally picked that answer."

"Let's hear it." Larson smirked.

"I want to stay on board." Sanderson said straightforwardly. "Now that I know that the entire senior staff approves of my presence, I've realized that I belong on this ship. I wish to be your First Officer. That is, if Starfleet Command approves of the idea."

Larson nodded and told her "Tom and B'Elanna managed to use their influence in Starfleet Command to give you the option of holding the position of First Officer on a starship."

"In that case, I feel that I owe them a favor." said Sanderson.

"On the contrary," said Larson, "they felt that they owed **you **a favor. You reminded them about how they were once viewed as outcasts in Starfleet, but thanks to the work of a kind and compassionate Starfleet Captain, they got back onto the road for greatness."

"I intend to travel that road too, sir." said Sanderson. "But only if you will travel it with me every step of the way."

Larson told her "As long as you and I serve on this ship, I will."

An hour later, most of the senior staff had assembled on the bridge. Casey was at the Conn station at the very front. Hopkins was sitting down at the Communications station three feet to his left. Nobema was sitting behind Hopkins at the Operations station. Marquez sat at the back of the room to the left at the Engineering station. Keller stood at the Medical station, which was located halfway between Nobema and Marquez.

On the other end of the room, Paris was at her post at the Tactical station. Rizux was standing up behind her at the Science station. At the back of the room to the right, Halrinso stood at the Security station.

Just then, the vessel's three top senior officers entered the bridge from the turbolift and they walked over to their chairs. Wood sat down in the Second Officer's chair, Sanderson sat down in the First Officer's chair, and Larson sat down in the Captain's chair.

Everyone turned to Larson as he made a short speech: "There are many different species in this galaxy. Some are humanoid, some are non-corporeal. Some have ridges on their heads and bodies, some have smooth skin. Many have differently colored skin. Despite all these differences, there is one thing that brings all the members of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets together: curiosity for the unknown. These are features key to any Starfleet officer. Therefore I, Captain Michael Andrew Larson, fully accept command of the USS _Champion _with a glad heart, and I swear to treat her and her crew well. Exploration will always be this ship's first mission. For it is a Starfleet vessel's sworn duty to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go… where no man has gone before."

Everybody clapped for him as his speech ended. When the clapping had subsided, Larson ordered to the helmsman "Lieutenant Casey, plot a course for Trill Prime. We'll be rendezvousing there to bring aboard some medical supplies and transport them to a new colony."

Casey turned to his console and input a new route. He proclaimed "Course laid in, sir."

"Lieutenant Marquez, bring the engines to warp 6." Larson ordered the ship's new and official Chief Engineer.

"Aye, warp 6, sir." said Marquez as he prepared the engines from his station.

"Engage." said Larson.

Casey had the ship lined up in the general direction of Trill Prime and the _Champion _flew steadily towards the system. Its crew was full of intelligent and loyal Starfleet officers just waiting to discover the unknown. Little did they know just how much excitement they would be having together.

Well what do you think? Review it!

Note: For all my future stories, there will be eleven main characters.

The chief main character, obviously, is:

Captain Michael Larson

The other ten main characters are:

Lieutenant Nicholas Casey

Lieutenant Tymar Halrinso

Ensign Cheryl Hopkins

Dr. Keller

Lieutenant Seth Marquez

Ensign Nobema

Lieutenant Miral Paris

Dr. Rizux

Commander Ashley Sanderson

Lieutenant Commander Patrick Wood

For those of you that are thinking about writing a review, could you please include the following in it:

A. Your favorite character (Your choices are Casey, Halrinso, Hopkins, Keller, Larson, Marquez, Nobema, Paris, Rizux, Sanderson, and Wood)

B. Your favorite (if any) chapter

C. Your favorite (if any) feature about the _Champion_

The one I am most interested in is A.

My next story will be entitled "Pursuit Course," where a mysterious alien ship appears to be chasing after the _Champion_. The crew will have to learn the intentions of the ship's crew before it is too late...


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